'.  -  < 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING 


Creative  on 


WITH  SELECTIONS  FOR  DECLAIMING 


BY 


EDWIN    DUBO1S    SHURTER 

ASSOCIATE    PROFESSOR    OF    ORATORY    IN    THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  TEXAS 


ALLYN    AND    BACON 

Boston  an& 


/^Av- 


COPYRIGHT,    1903,   BY 
EDWIN   DyBOIS  SHURTER. 


NortoooU 

J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co.  — Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  book  is  intended  to  help  those  who  would  speak 
well  in  public.  It  deals  not  so  much  with  What  to  Say  as 
How  To  Say  It;  and  is  designed  to  prepare  students  for  sub- 
sequent training  in  formal  oratory,  debate,  and  extempore 
speaking. 

Most  of  the  books  that  deal  with  the  art  of  delivery 
belong  to  one  of  two  general  classes :  (1)  those  containing 
generalizations  that  are  all  very  good,  but  of  no  practical 
utility  to  the  student  of  speaking;  (2)  those  that  are  full 
of  elocutionary  directions  and  rules,  that  lean  toward 
dramatic  reading  rather  than  public  speaking,  an<jl  stress 
mechanics  rather  than  mentality.  The  treatment  in  this 
volume  aims  to  be  more  specific  than  the  one  and  less 
technical  than  the  other.  The  mental  requirements  for 
speaking  are  emphasized  throughout.  Experience  has 
shown  that  students  should,  at  the  outset,  be  put  on 
thought-analysis,  as  is  outlined  in  Chapter  I;  that  the 
idea  of  thought-expression  should  be  firmly  fixed  before 
the  consideration  of  technique. 

Since  public  speaking  is  largely  an  art,  no  book  of  this 
nature  can  wholly  supply  a  method  or  supplant  a  teacher. 
A  few  rules  are  given  in  the  text,  but  these  are  rather 
principles  to  be  grasped  than  rules  to  be  memorized ;  and 
even  then,  perhaps,  the  able  teacher  can  often  make  an 
example  more  effective  without  any  rule. 

The  author  gratefully  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to 
Professor  Brainard  G.  Smith,  for  the  use  made  of  his 

iii 

265830 


iv  PREFACE. 

Reading  and  Speaking ;  to  Messrs.  Lee  and  Shepard,  for  per- 
mission to  adapt,  in  Chapter  I  of  this  volume,  portions  of 
Kirby's  exposition  on  "  The  Mental  Content  of  Language,'' 
Part  II,  Chapter  I,  of  his  Public  Speaking  and  Reading,  and 
also  for  permission  to  use  the  selections  from  Phillips's 
orations  and  lectures ;  to  Professor  Hiram  Corson,  for  per- 
mission to  quote  from  his  TJie  Voice  and  Spiritual  Educa- 
tion; to  Harper  and  Brothers,  for  the  selections  f'nnn 
Curtis's  Orations  and  Addresses;  to  Funk  and  Wagnalls 
Co.,  for  the  extracts  from  Sheppard's  Before  an  Audience; 
to  Longmans,  Green  and  Co.,  for  the  quotations  from  Hig- 
ginson's  Hints  on  Writing  and  Speech-making ;  to  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  and  Co.,  for  the  quotations  from  Emerson's 
Essays;  to  Mr.  Elbert  Hubbard,  for  the  selections  from  his 
writings;  to  The  Gammel  Book  Co.,  of  Austin,  Texas,  for 
permission  to  reprint  several  selections  from  the  author's 
The  Modern  American  Speaker. 

If  this  book  shall  stimulate  the  young  speaker  to  work, 
or  make  the  method  of  working  plainer  and  easier,  or  shall 
help  dispel  from  his  mind  any  erroneous  and  fanciful 
notions  often  associated  with  the  art  of  public  speaking, 
the  author's  object  will  be  fulfilled. 

E.  D.  S. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  TEXAS, 
September,  1903. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 1 

CHAPTER  I.     THE  NATURE  AND  BASIS  OF  PUBLIC  SPEAKING     .        7 

Public  Speaking  defined  —  Tests  of  the  Best  Public  Speak- 
ing—  What  Public  Speaking  is  not  —  The  Basis  of  Public 
Speaking  —  Processes  in  the  Preparation  of  an  Address  for 
Delivery  —  Selections  for  Practice :  Conservatism ;  The 
Home  and  the  Republic  —  Mastery  of  an  Address:  Ques- 
tions and  Suggestions. 

CHAPTKIC  II.     THE  VOICE 17 

The  Importance  and  the  Possibility  of  Voice  Culture  — 
HIIW  Speech  is  effected  —  Breathing  —  Pure  Tone — Exercises 
in  Deep  Breathing  —  Exercises  for  the  Vocal  Organs. 

CIIAPTEU  III.     PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION     ...      26 

Definition  of  Terms  —  Importance  of  Correct  Pronun- 
ciation—  Faults  of  Pronunciation  —  Tests  of  Good  Pro- 
nunciation —  List  of  Words  frequently  mispronounced — 
Importance  of  Distinct  Enunciation  —  The  Need  of  an 
Exaggerated  Enunciation  in  Public  Speech  —  Faults  in 
Enunciation  and  their  Correction  —  Exercises  in  Articula- 
tion. 

CHAPTER  IV.     KEY 37 

Definition  of  Terms  — The  Middle  or  Average  Key  — 
Adaptation  of  the  Voice  to  the  Room  —  High  Key  not 
necessary  for  Increased  Force  —  Modulation  —  Exercises 
in  Key. 

v 


VI  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V.     EMPHASIS 


Definition  —  Basis  of  Good  Emphasis  —  Ways  of  Empha- 
sizing—  Importance  of   Emphasis — Rules  of   Emphasis  — 
Common  Faults   of    Emphasis  —  Selections   for    Practice: 
America;  Recessional. 

CHAPTER  VI.     INFLECTION  ........       59 

Definition  and  Classification  — •-  The  Falling  and  Rising 
Inflections:  General  Law— The  Falling  Inflection  —  The 
Rising  Inflection  —  Further  Applications  of  the  General 
Law  of  Inflection  —  The  Circumflexes:  Definition;  Usage 

—  The  Slides:  Definition;  Usage  —  Faults  of  Inflection. 

CHAPTER  VII.     TIME  :  RATE,  PHRASING,  TRANSITION        .         .       79 

/  Definition  —  Rate  —  Admonitions  as  to  Rate  —  Exercises 
/  for  acquiring  Slow  Rate  —  Phrasing  —  Faults  of  Phrasing  — 
V  Transition. 

CHAPTER  VIII.     FORCE,  CLIMAX,  VOLUME         ....       88 

Definition  of  Force  —  General  Suggestions  regarding  Force 

—  Meaning  and  Uses  of  Climax  and  Volume. 

CHAPTER  IX.     TONE-COLOR 98 

Definition  and  Exposition  — Word-coloring  — The  "At- 
mosphere "  of  the  Address. 

CHAPTER  X.     EARNESTNESS         . 102 

The  Gauge  of  Success  —  Essentials  of  Earnestness  —  The 
Occasion  —  Relation  to  Technique  —  Earnestness  the  Ex- 
pression of  Character. 

CHAPTER  XL     PHYSICAL  EARNESTNESS  —  GESTURE    .         .         .     110 

Expression  by  Action  —  Physical  Earnestness  —  The  Ex- 
pression of  Physical  Earnestness  —  Gesture  —  Calisthenics 
Preparatory  to  Gesture  —  The  Mechanics  of  Gesture  —  Ges- 
tures Classified  —  General  Principles  of  Gesture  —  Cautions. 


CONTENTS.  vii 


PAGE 

/HAPTFR  XII.     GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS       .....     131 
Style  of  Delivery  —  Stage-fright  —  Study  and  Practice. 


CHAPTER  XIII.     SKLECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE: 

The  Alamo  and  the  New  South      .         .       Henry  W.  Grady  138 
The  American  University  and  American  Citizenship    . 

Woodrow  Wilson  140 

Christian  Citizenship     .         .         .       Charles  H.  Parkhurst  143 

Sources  of  our  National  Strength  .         .           \VhitelawReid  14;"> 

The  Philippine  Question        .         .         .  Albert  J.  Beveridge  148 

Our  Policy  toward  the  Philippines         .         George  F.  Hoar  152 

America  a  World  Republic    .        .        .  Albert  J.  Beveridge  156 

America  and  International  IVace           .    Y7?/Wore  lioosevelt  150 

A  Talk  on  Books //«•>//•//  Drummond  161 

The  Masterpiere  of  God          .         .         .         Elbert  Hubbard  163 

Public  Opinion  and  Agitation         .         .        \]'i -ml, •//  /'//////;>*  166 

The  Triumph  nf  Truth  ....         Thomas  Carlyle  1<>8 

Character  Essential  for  a  Great  Lawyer         MY//r/r//  1'liillips  170 

Jury  Address Daniel  Webster  172 

The  Great  Chart,  r U.  M.  Rose  176 

Training  for  the  Legal  Profession          .     E<l«->ir<l  J.  Fhelps  111 

Gettysburg  Address        ....     Abraham  Lincoln  180 

Abraham  Lincoln Hair;/  }\'<ifffrson  181 

Robert  E.  Lee John  W.  Daniel  183 

Stonewall  Jackson          ....         Moses  D.  Hoge  186 

44 The  Soldier's  Last  Salute"          .        .        .  Horace  Porter  188 

The  Death  of  Garfield    ....       James  G.  Blaine  190 

William  McKinley John  Hay  192 

The  New  South Henry  W.  Grady  196 

The  Minute  Man  of  the  Revolution     George  William  Curtis  ID!) 

Happiness  and  Liberty  ....  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  201 

Revolutions Wendell  Phillips  203 

The  New  South  and  the  Race  Problem         Henry  W.  Grady  205 

England  and  the  American  Colonies     .          Edmund  Burke  207 

A  Message  to  Garcia      ....         Elbert  Hubbard  209 

Columbus Chauncey  M.  Depew  211 

The  Pilgrims Edward  Everett  213 

Tribute  to  Lincoln                                            Emilio  Castelar  215 


\ 


y 


Vlll  CONTEXTS. 

PAGK 

The  Law,  Individual  Liberty,  and  the  Mob  Spirit 

John  Woodward  217 

Insight  and  Foresight    ....         "  The  Outlook "  219 

The  True  Spirit  for  Independence  Day          .    Yancey  Lewis  223 

Social  Life  in  the  Old  South  .         .         Thomas  Nelson  Page  226 

The  Negro  Question       .        .        .         Thomas  Nelson  Page  228 

Webster  as  an  Orator    ....  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  230 

Democracy  and  Education    .         .   Nicholas  Murray  Butler  233 

Wealth  and  Democracy         ....  Lyman  Abbott  235 

Government  by  Public  Opinion      .    Arthur  Tinning  Hadley  238 

The  Law  of  Service Lyman  Abbott  240 

John  Marshall Henry  Cabot  Lodge  iM:; 

Events  are  Temporal,  Principles  Eternal       .... 

X ic h »l> i *  Murray  Jintb-r  246 
The  Puritans  and  Twentieth  Century  Problems    . 

Arthur  Tinnimj  Hartley  248 

The  Symmetry  of  Life  ....         Phillips  Brooks  251 


INTRODUCTION. 

IN  his  little  book  on  Hints  on  Writing  and  Speech-making, 
Colonel  Thomas  \\Cntworth  Higginson  points  out  that  "the 
number  of  graduates  going  forth  each  year  from  our  Ameri- 
can colleges  must  be  several  thousand,  since  the  number  of 
undergraduates  is  more  than  twenty  thousand.  If  we  add 
those  who  are  graduates  of  academies  .  .  .  the  figures  will 
be  greatly  swelled.  The  majority  of  all  these  graduates 
will  be  called  upon,  at  some  time  or  other  during  their 
lives,  to  make  a  speech,  as  will  also  thousands  of  young 
Americans  who  have  never  seen  the  inside  of  college  or 
academy."  Speech-making,  as  Colonel  Higginson  suggests, 
is  a  condition  of  American  life  and  government.  True, 
newspapers  and  magazines  have  in  some  ways  affected  the 
requirements  for  the  public  speaker,  but  they  have  by  no 
means  supplanted  him,  and  they  never  will.  The  proof  of 
this  assertion  lies  not  alone  in  the  peculiar  social  and  politi- 
cal demands  under  a  republican  form  of  government,  but 
is  inherent  in  human  nature  itself.  If  men  are  moved  by 
the  printed  word,  must  they  not  be  aroused  still  more  by 
the  spoken  word  ?  If  the  author  can  convince  through  the 
lifeless  type,  how  much  more  effectively  can  men's  sensi- 
bilities be  touched  through  the  directness  and  earnestness  of 
the  living  man !  "  In  these  days,"  says  Ex-Premier  Salis- 
bury, "  whether  we  like  it  or  not,  power  is  with  the  tongue, 
power  is  with  those  who  can  speak."  And  Gladstone 
declared,  "  All  time  and  money  spent  in  training  the  voice 
and  the  body  is  an  investment  that  pays  a  larger  interest 
than  any  other." 

1 


%  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

The  school  and  college  graduates  referred  to  by  Colonel 
Higginson  will  become  —  or  should  become  —  leaders  in 
moulding  and  directing  public  opinion  in  their  respective 
communities.  Now,  if  education  should  help  prepare  our 
school  and  college  graduates  for  the  duties  and  privileges  of 
citizenship  —  and  who  will  say  that  it  should  not?  —  the 
question  arises,  Are  our  schools  and  colleges  performing 
their  duty  in  the  training  of  public  speakers  ?  In  some 
institutions,  yes ;  in  many  others,  no.  There  has  been,  even 
during  the  past  ten  years,  a  marked  improvement  in  this 
regard,  but  yet  there  is  no  generally  accepted  opinion  that 
instruction  in  public  speaking  demands  a  place  in  school  and 
college  curriculum. 

Why  this  seeming  indifference  ?  In  part,  at  least,  because 
of  a  widespread  prejudice  among  educators  against  so-called 
"elocutionary"  training.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the 
prejudice  is  well  founded.  "Long-haired  men  and  short- 
haired  women,"  with  what  Emerson  calls  a  "patty-pan 
ebullition,"  have  gone  about  the  country  giving  "  readings  " 
wherein  self-conscious  posing,  and  the  artificial  vocalizing  of 
hothouse  "  literature,"  have  long  afflicted  a  patient  public. 
Now,  the  association  of  this  brand  with  the  idea  of  public 
speaking  is  most  unfortunate.  I  am  not  pooh-poohing  all 
public  readings,  by  any  means.  The  intelligent  and  sympa- 
thetic oral  interpretation  of  good  literature  is  certainly  an 
enviable  accomplishment,  and  of  great  educational  value;  but 
even  that  is  not  public  speaking.  Much  less  so,  the  dramatic 
"  reading  "  above  described.  But,  granting  this  distinction, 
the  objector  interposes,  "  Speaking  cannot  be  taught."  And 
in  this  connection  I  wish  briefly  to  notice  some  of  the  falla- 
cies relative  to  instruction  along  these  lines  :  — 

1.  "  Training  makes  one  self-conscious  and  artificial."  This 
may  at  times  be  true,  but  it  all  depends  upon  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  the  training.  The  exemplification  of  this 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

tbjection  is  seen  in  the  crude  attempts  of  persons  who 
have  mastered  the  beginnings  of  an  art,  and  mistaken  them 
for  the  end.  Certainly  the  masters  of  the  art  of  speech, 
both  ancient  and  modern,  did  not  become  masters  without 
laborious  and  long-continued  training.  Such  training  was  the 
lifelong  work  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  orators.  Curran, 
the  celebrated  Irish  orator,  was  so  handicapped  in  his  youth 
that  he  was  called  "  stuttering  Jack  Curran."  He  said  of 
himself,  "My  friends  despaired  of  my  ever  making  a 
speaker,  but  I  would  not  give  it  up."  Says  one  of  his 
friends,  k>  II»-  turned  his  shrill  and  stumbling  brogue  into  a 
flexible,  sustained,  and  finely  modulated  voice;  his  action 
became  free  and  forcible ;  and  he  acquired  perfect  readiness 
in  thinking  on  his  legs."  With  reference  to  botl^  matter 
and  muiiner,  Webster  said  of  himself:  "When  I  was  a 
young  man,  and  for  several  years  after  I  had  acquired  a 
respectable  degree  of  eminence  in  my  profession,  my  style 
was  bombastic  in  the  extreme.  Some  kind  friend  was  good 
enough  to  point  out  that  fact  to  me,  and  I  determined  to 
correct  it,  if  labor  could  do  it.  Whether  it  has  been  cor- 
rected or  not,  no  small  part  of  my  life  has  been  spent  in  the 
attempt." 

2.  "  The  orator  is  born,  not  made."  True,  in  a  sense,  but  we 
must  qualify  and  distinguish.  No  man  will  ever  be  a  great 
orator  without  certain  inborn  qualities  and  the  oratorical 
instinct.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  a  young  man  cannot 
be  taught  to  correct  bad  habits  of  speech  and  form  better 
habits;  to  train  himself,  during  his  school  or  college  course, 
in  speaking  before  an  audience;  to  conquer  stage-fright,  and 
develop  self-control,  ease,  and  power.  He  may  not  have  in 
him  the  making  of  an  orator;  but  he  can,  by  due  attention 
and  systematic  work,  acquire  such  knowledge  and  skill  as 
to  increase  his  effectiveness  as  a  public  speaker.  And  if  he 
has  that  indefinable  quality  termed  the  "oratorical  instinct," 


4  PUBLIC   SPEAK  I  \<,. 

training  is  none  the  less  necessary  to  make  him  an  orator 
Xo  orator  is  born  any  more  than  an  artist  or  a  musician  is 
born.  The  orator  who  relies  solely  on  his  birth  is  never 
heard  from. 

3.  "Be  in  earnest;  forget  about  yourself  and  think  only  of 
your  subject"    This  is  most  excellent  advice.     In  the  actual 
process  of  speech-making,  the  less  one  thinks  about  himself, 
and  the  more  intensely  he  thinks  about  his  subject,  the  more 
effective  his  delivery.     "  Clearness,  force,  and  earnestness 
are  the  qualities  which  produce  conviction."     But  we  must 
distinguish  between  the  end  and  the  means  to  such  end.    In 
the  period  of  preliminary  training,  perhaps  the  last  thing  the 
young  speaker  should  do  is  to  forget  about  himself.     He  may 
be  deacon  earnest  about  his  subject,  but  such  earnestness  is 
ineffective  as  to  his  audience  unless  he  speaks,  for  instance,  so 
that  he  can  be  heard.     He  may  have  a  hundred  and  one  man- 
nerisms, vocal  and  physical,  that  most  seriously  intervene 
between  his  earnestness  and  those  to  whom  he  would  convey 
his  thought.     Says  Cicero,  in  his  De  Oratore, "  What  Socrates 
used  to  say,  that  'all  men  are  sufficiently  eloquent  in  that 
which  they  understand,'  is  very  plausible,  but  not  true.     It 
would  have  been  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  110  man  can  be 
eloquent  on  a  subject  that  he  does  not  understand;  and  that, 
if  he  understands  a  subject  never  so  well,  but  is  ignorant  of 
how  to  form  and  polish  his  speech,  he  cannot  express  him- 
self eloquently  even  about  what  he  does  understand." 

4.  "  Be  natural,  and  you  will  speak  well."     This,  too,  is  a 
most  excellent  direction,  so  far  as  it  applies  to  the  avoidance 
of  artificial  and  mechanical  methods  in  the  act  of  speaking ; 
but  what  do  we  mean  by  being  "natural "  ?     Talking  through 
the  nose  or  teeth,  or  in  the  throat,  or  at  the  walls,  may  seem 
natural  to  many ;  but  these  are  matters  of  habit  rather  than 
of  nature.    Students  who  in  their  school  or  college  course  first 
give  attention  to  the  manner  of  their  speech,  bring  to  the 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

study  certain  habits.  These  habits  may  be  good  or  bad. 
The  good  habits  need  developing  and  strengthening ;  the  bad 
represent  sundry  faults,  some  curable,  many  needing  to  be 
eradicated  and  supplanted,  all  capable  of  improvement. 
Now,  these  bad  habits  are  not  natural,  in  the  sense  that  they 
are  true  exponents  of  nature.  They  are,  rather,  a  cultivated 
unnaturalness.  We  must  therefore  be  careful  not  to  con- 
found habit  with  nature,  peculiarity  with  individuality.  On 
this  "being  natural'7  fallacy,  Professor  Hiram  Corson,  in  his 
little  book,  TJie  Voice  and  Spiritual  Education,  says:  "  'Enter 
into  the  spirit  of  what  you  read,  read  naturally,  and  you  will 
read  well/  is  about  the  sum  and  substance  of  what  Arch- 
bishop Whately  teaches  on  the  subject,  in  his  Elements  of 
Rhetoric.  Similar  advice  might  with  equal  propriety  be 
given  to  a  clumsy,  stiff-jointed  clodhopper  in  regard  to  danc- 
ing, 'Enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  dance,  dance  naturally, 
ami  you  will  dance  well/  The  more  he  might  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  the  dance,  the  more  he  might  emphasize  his 
stiff-jointedness  and  clodhopperishness." 

There  is  this  further  phase  of  the  problem :  in  addition  to 
natural  or  normal  faults  of  speech,  the  presence  of  an  audi- 
ence often  superimposes  abnormal  ones.  If  one,  without 
training  or  practice,  could  rise  and  face  an  audience,  large 
or  small,  and  speak  with  the  interest,  vivacity,  earnestness, 
and  naturalness  that  he  would  employ  in  good  conversation, 
there  would  be  no  need  of  this  book  or  of  teachers  of  expres- 
sion. But  the  most  casual  observation  shows  that  this  is 
not  the  case. 

To  learn  to  speak,  then,  one  must  in  some  way  (1)  acquire 
the  right  mental  attitude  toward  his  message  and  his  au- 
dience ;  and  (2),  as  a  means  to  this  end,  remove,  so  far  as 
possible,  vocal  and  bodily  limitations  that  hinder  the  most 
effective  delivery  of  the  thought.  There  are  some  who 
assert  that  if  the  first  requirement  be  attained,  the  second 


6  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

will  naturally  and  necessarily  follow.  This  position  doubt- 
less represents  the  reaction  from  the  mechanical,  artificial, 
"elocutionary"  methods,  but  like  most  reactions,  the  truth 
probably  lies  midway.  It  is  better,  of  course,  to  have  mind- 
action  and  a  rough  mechanism,  than  a  finished  method  and 
no  motive  power ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  some  attention 
should  not  be  paid  to  the  voice  and  body  as  agents  of 
expression. 

In  short,  public  speaking  is  an  art,  and  it  does  not  come 
by  chance.  To  acquire  this  art  requires  work — conscientious, 
systematic,  continuous  preparation  and  practice.  Like 
every  other  study,  we  get  out  of  it  what  we  put  in.  Any 
young  person  who  expects  to  speak  in  public  should,  at  the 
outset,  disabuse  his  mind  of  the  idea  that  a  term's  or  a  year's 
lessons  in  oratory  will  turn  him  out  a  finished  product. 
Years  of  study  and  practice  are  required,  and  then  no  one 
can  be  said  to  have  acquired  perfection  in  the  art.  We 
listen  to  an  effective  speaker,  and  remark  how  easily  his 
periods  roll  out.  But  we  forget  that  behind  them  lies  a 
long  course  of  study  and  self-discipline,  study  not  neces- 
sarily of  any  particular  system  of  expression,  nor  under  any 
teacher,  but  certainly  not  without  training  in  the  school 
of  experience.  Fortunate  that  young  speaker  whose  first 
efforts  are  directed  along  right  lines,  and  whose  first  experi- 
ences are  had  under  helpful  conditions. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  NATUKE  AND  BASIS  OP  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

Public  Speaking  Defined.  —  What  is  public  speaking  ?  It  is 
speaking  to  a  collection  of  individuals.  Its  purposes  are  to 
convey  thought,  to  mould  opinion,  and  to  awaken  feeling. 
Any  one  or  all  of  these  purposes  may  be  present  in  a  given 
address,  but  in  any  case  there  is  thought  to  be  conveyed, 
whether  in  the  form  of  exposition,  argument,  or  appeal. 
Public  speaking,  then,  as  the  term  is  used  in  this  book, 
is  speaking  in  public  with  the  purpose  of  convincing  and 
persuading,  and  not  for  entertainment  simply,  which  is 
usually  the  purpose  in  reciting,  dramatic  reading,  or 
acting. 

Tests  of  the  Best  Public  Speaking.  —  You  are  to  speak  to 
ten,  one  hundred,  or  one  thousand  people  collectively — your 
audience.  How  best  speak  to  them  for  the  purposes  of 
instructing,  convincing,  or  persuading?  This  question  is^ 
best  answered  by  asking,  How  best  speak  when  you  are 
talking  to  any  one  of  them?  That  is,  the  criteria  of  the 
best  public  speaking  are  those  of  the  best  conversation, — 
not  the  most  showy  or  noisy,  but  the  best,  from  the  stand- 
point of  effectiveness.  In  the  conveyance  and  lodgement  of 
thought,  what  constitutes  effectiveness  in  conversation? 
Among  other  things,  a  good  conversationalist  must  possess 
the  qualities  of  clearness,  directness,  simplicity,  vivacity, 
spontaneity,  and  sincerity.  Hence  these  same  qualities 
must  be  effective  in  public  speech. 

7 


8  PUBLIC   SPEAKIXG. 

What  Public  Speaking  is  Not.  —  Eliminate,  at  the  outset, 
the  extraneous  or  fanciful  ideas  often  connected  with  the 
art  of  speaking  in  public.  A  pleasing,  musical  voice  is  an 
added  charm,  but  not  indispensable.  Grace  is  desirable,  but 
a  fine  carriage  or  pretty  gestures  do  not  carry  a  cause  or  win 
a  verdict.  Nor  is  there  any  ready-made  prescription.  Many 
students  seek  instruction  in  oratory  who  seem  to  imagine 
that  the  teacher  can  furnish  them  with  some  patent  device 
whereby  they  will  become  proficient  in  the  art.  Banish 
from  your  mind  any  thought  that  this  or  that  "  system," 
this  or  that  "method,"  will  make  you  an  orator,  or  even 
—  what  is  far  more  to  our  purpose  —  an  effective  public 
speaker.  No  method  but  your  own  —  the  expression  of 
your  individuality  —  will  ever  make  you  any  sort  of  a 
speaker  other  than  a  parrot  or  a  machine.  Be  yourself,  not 
a  mere  imitator.  Certain  principles  are  fundamental,  but 
expression  will  be  as  varied  as  individualities.  Avoid  any 
"  system  "  that  would  cast  all  speakers  in  the  same  mould. 
Aim  not  to  become  a  Demosthenes  or  Cicero,  a  Webster  or 
Clay,  but  aim  for  the  best  and  most  effective  expression  of 
Yourself.  Above  all,  eschew  any  ambition  to  become  "  elo- 
quent," as  the  term  is  commonly  used. — "to  soar  among  the 
constellations  and  strew  the  floor  with  star-dust."  Further- 
more, true  eloquence  never  comes  from  a  conscious  effort 
toward  that  in  itself.  "  It  comes,  if  it  come  at  all,  like  the 
outbreak  of  a  fountain  from  the  earth,  or  the  bursting  forth 
of  volcanic  fires,  with  spontaneous,  original,  native  force." 
The  speaker  "  should  pray  to  be  delivered  from  the  ambition 
to  be  eloquent,"  says  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  "  by  an  ambition 
to  win  a  result ;  be  careless  of  admiration  and  covetous  of 
practical  fruits  in  his  auditors'  lives.  Without  this  moral 
preparation  he  will  be  a  mere  declaimer ;  with  it  he  may  be 
an  effective  speaker.  And  whether  he  is  what  men  call  an 
orator  or  not  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence." 


NATURE  AND  BASIS   OF  PUBLIC  SPEAKING.        9 

The  Basis  of  Public  Speaking:  Clear,  Orderly,  Intense  Think- 
ing.—  Public  speaking,  then,  being  the  communication  of 
thought,  it  follows  that  you  must  have  something  to  say; 
and  a  clear  and  vivid  concept  of  this  something  to  say 
must  be  present  to  the  mind  at  the  moment  of  its  utterance. 
Public  speaking  is  the  science  and  art  of  thinking  aloud. 
If  there  is  any  one  thing  that  the  modern  audience  wish 
to  be  delivered  from,  it  is  mere  volubility,  with  thought  in 
inverse  proportion.  The  most  inveterate  bore  in  modern 
assemblies  is  the  chronic  talker  —  the  man  who  has  nothing 
to  say  and  is  forever  saying  it.  So  we  can  well  understand 
Lowell's  suggested  addition  to  the  Beatitudes,  "Blessed  is 
he  who  hath  nothing  to  say  —  and  cannot  be  persuaded  to 
say  it." 

Processes  in  the  Preparation  of  an  Address  for  Delivery. 

1.  Tfte  Selection  of  an  Address.  —  Oratorical  composition 
is  not  within  the  province  of  this  book ;    it  is  therefore 
assumed  that  you  have   something  to  say.      With  young 
speakers,  who  have  as  yet  neither  the  material  nor  the 
ability  for  original  composition,  it  is  often  quite  as  well  to 
borrow  another's  thoughts  and  words,  for  the  purposes  of 
training  in  expression.     Only  selections  worth  memorizing 
should  be  chosen.     Literature  is   full   of   such   selections 
adaptable  to  speaking.    The  memorizing  of  choice  selections 
from  the  best  literature  has  been  sadly  neglected  in  our 
modern  educational  system.      Its  value  successful  public 
speakers  have  long  recognized.     It  furnishes  a  storehouse 
of  illustration  and  expression  ;  it  aids  the  memory,  furnishes 
a  means  of  culture,  and  is  a  never-failing  source  of  pleasure. 
Further,  in  class-room  work,  it  affords  a  common  basis  of 
study  and  reference  for  teacher  and  class. 

2.  Perspective.  —  You  have  an  address  to  prepare  for  deliv- 
ery.    Let  us  note  some  of  the  steps  in  such  preparation.     If 


10  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

the  address  be  not  original,  the  first  step  is  to  get  a  proper 
perspective  of  the  thought  as  a  whole;  for  just  as  in  the 
preparation  of  an  original  address  the  audience  and  occa- 
sion must  be  carefully  considered,  so,  in  preparation  for  the 
delivery  of  another's  thought,  must  the  student  go  outside 
of  the  printed  words  and  study  the  writer  or  speaker,  and 
the  circumstances  surrounding  the  first  writing  or  delivery. 
Truly  to  interpret  and  sympathetically  to  express  another's 
words  one  must  know  the  author,  and  live  again  in  his  ex- 
periences at  the  time  he  gave  his  thought  to  the  world. 
Moreover,  such  external  study  is  desirable,  in  order  that  the 
speaker  may  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  a  particular  address, 

—  be  put  in  the  proper  mood1  for  its  delivery. 

3.  Tlie  Theme  of  the  Address.  —  Turning  now  to  the  con- 
tent of  the  address  itself,  the  student  must  first  note  the 
gist  of  the  discourse  as  a  whole.     What  is  the  thought,  in 
a  nutshell  ?     Grip  it.     The  introductory,  explanatory,  and 
modifying  ideas  must  be  noted,  and  subordinated  to  the 
essential  and  controlling  ideas.     The  controlling  ideas  will 
be  found   in   those  key-words   or  sentences  that   together 
express  the  theme  of  the  discourse.      This  theme  must  be 
grasped,  and  must  dominate  the  expression. 

4.  Paragraphs.  — Every  paragraph  of  the  address,  if  well 
constructed,  represents  a  unit  in  the  development  of  the 
thought ;  and  each  paragraph,  in  turn,  denotes  a  progressive 
transition  in  the   thought  movement.      A  paragraph  will 
usually  contain  a  key-sentence,  around  which  the  thought 
of  that  paragraph  clusters.     It  is  for  the  speaker  to  discover 
this  key-sentence,  make  it  stand  out  in  the  utterance,  and 
subordinate  the  matter  of  less  relative  importance. 

1 "  Less  intensive  degrees  of  emotion  are  called  moods.  It  is  a  general 
rule  that  the  duration  of  emotion  varies  inversely  with  its  intensity;  so 
that  moods  are  more  permanent  states  of  mind  than  emotions  proper." 

—  SCRIPTURE:  Thinking,  Feeling,  Doing,  p.  227. 


NATURE  AND  BASIS   OF  PUBLIC  SPEAKING.      11 

5.  Sentence*.  —  Sentences  are  made  up  of  ideas  and  express 
complete  thoughts.    In  every  sentence  the  two  leading  ideas 
always  are,  first,  something  you  are  speaking  of,  and  second, 
what  you  say  of  that  something;  or,  subject  and  predicate. 
In  addition  to  these  two  primary  ideas,  every  sentence  may 
have  numerous  words,   phrases,  and  clauses  that  limit  or 
qualify  the  thought.     For  the  purposes  of  expression,  the 
student  should  first  discover  these  two  leading  ideas.     Fol- 
lowing the  first  sentence  in  any  selection,  he  should  note 
what  new  idea  each  sentence  contains,  and  what  ideas  are 
merely  repetitions  or  echoes  of  preceding  sentences.      He 
should  note  the  words  that  bear  the  burden  of  this  new  idea, 
and  in  speaking,  of  course,  express  the  new  or  important 
ideas  as  such  to  the  hearers.  < 

6.  Words.  —  Thought  is  conveyed  by  means  of  words ; 
but  words  as  such  are  meaningless.     They  are  simply  signs 
of  ideas.     The  mere  utterance  of  words  may  be  as  expres- 
sionless as  the  vocalizing  of  an  uneducated  deaf-mute.     For 
example,  take  the  following  word-combination  which  the 
man  in  one  of  George  Eliot's  novels  found  so  much  comfort 
in  repeating:     "  Sihon,  King  of  the  Amorites,  for  his  mercy 
endnreth  forever.     And  Og,  King  of  Bashan,  for  his  mercy 
endureth  forever."     Beware,  then,  of  uttering  words  instead 
of  thoughts. 

Observing  the  foregoing  suggestions,  study  the  following 
selections :  — 

CONSERVATISM. 

Speaking  of  conservatism,  George  William  Curtis  said :  — 
"  A  friend  of  mine  was  a  student  of  Couture  the  painter, 
in  Paris.  One  day  the  master  came  and  looked  over  the 
pupil's  drawing  and  said  to  him,  'My  friend,  that  line 
should  go  so';  and  indicated  it  lightly  on  the  paper  with 
his  pencil.  To  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  master's  eye,  the 


12  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

pupil  rubbed  out  the  correction  and  left  the  line.  The  next 
day  Couture  came,  and  looking  over  the  drawing,  stopped 
in  surprise.  i  That's  curious,'  said  he,  '  I  thought  I  altered 
that.  This  line  goes  so,'  he  added,  and  drew  it  firmly  in 
black  upon  the  paper.  Again  the  pupil  rubbed  out  the  cor- 
rection. The  next  day  the  master  came  again,  stopped  short 
when  he  saw  the  drawing,  looked  at  it  a  moment  without 
speaking ;  then,  with  his  thumb-nail,  he  cut  quite  through 
the  paper.  '  That's  the  way  this  line  ought  to  go,'  he  said, 
and  passed  on. 

"  So  the  hearts  and  minds  of  our  fathers  marked  the  line 
of  our  true  development.  Conservatism  rubbed  it  out.  The 
Missouri  struggle  emphasized  the  line  again.  Conservatism 
rubbed  it  out.  The  tragedy  of  Kansas  drew  the  line  more 
sternly.  Conservatism  rubbed  it  out.  Then,  at  last,  the 
Divine  finger  drew  in  fire  and  blood,  sharply,  sharply, 
through  our  wailing  homes,  through  our  torn  and  bleeding 
country,  through  our  very  quivering  hearts,  the  line  of  lib- 
erty, and  justice,  and  equal  rights ;  and  conservatism  might 
as  well,  try  to  rub  out  the  rainbow  from  the  heavens,  as  to 
erase  this,  the  decision  of  the  age." 

THE   HOME   AND   THE   REPUBLIC. 

In  an  address  delivered  at  Elberton,  Georgia,  in  June, 
1889,  Henry  W.  Grady  said :  — 

"  I  went  to  Washington  the  other  day,  and  as  I  stood  on 
Capitol  Hill  my  heart  beat  quick  as  I  looked  at  the  towering 
marble  of  my  country's  Capitol,  and  the  mist  gathered  in 
my  eyes  as  I  thought  of  its  tremendous  significance,  —  the 
army,  and  the  Treasury,  and  the  courts,  and  Congress,  and 
the  President,  and  all  that  was  gathered  there.  And  I  felt 


NATURE  AND  BASIS   OF  PUBLIC  SPEAKING.      13 

that  the  sun  in  all  its  course  could  not  look  down  upon  a 
better  sight  than  that  majestic  home  of  the  Republic  that 
had  taught  the  world  its  best  lessons  in  liberty. 

"Two  days  afterwards  I  went  to  visit  a  friend  in  the 
country,  —  a  modest  man,  with  a  quiet  country  home.  It 
was  just  a  simple,  unpretentious  house,  set  about  with  great 
big  trees,  encircled  in  meadow  and  fields  rich  with  the 
promise  of  harvest.  The  fragrance  of  pink  and  hollyhock 
in  the  front  yard  was  mingled  with  the  aroma  of  the  orchard 
and  of  the  garden,  and  resonant  with  the  cluck  of  poultry 
and  the  hum  of  bees.  Inside  was  quiet,  cleanliness,  thrift, 
and  comfort.  Outside  there  stood  my  friend  —  master  of 
his  land  and  master  of  himself.  There  was  his  old  father, 
an  aged,  trembling  man,  happy  in  the  heart  and  home  of  his 
son.  And  as  they  started  to  their  home  the  hands  of  the 
old  man  went  down  on  the  young  man's  shoulders,  laying 
there  the  unspeakable  blessing  of  an  honored  and  grateful 
father,  and  ennobling  it  with  the  knighthood  of  the  Fifth 
Commandment.  .  .  .  And  I  saw  the  night  come  down  on 
that  home,  falling  gently  as  from  the  wings  of  an  unseen 
dove,  and  the  old  man,  while  a  startled  bird  called  from  the 
forest,  and  the  trees  shrilled  with  the  cricket's  cry,  and  the 
stars  were  swarming  in  the  sky,  got  the  family  around  him, 
and  taking  the  old  Bible  from  the  table,  called  them  to  their 
knees,  while  he  closed  the  record  of  that  simple  day  by  call- 
ing down  God's  blessing  on  that  family  and  that  home. 

"And  while  I  gazed,  the  vision  of  the  marble  Capitol 
faded.  Forgotten  were  its  treasures  and  its  majesty,  and  I 
said,  '  0,  surely,  here  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  at  last  are 
lodged  the  strength  and  responsibilities  of  this  government, 
the  hope  and  promise  of  this  Republic.'  " 


14  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

In  any  selection  for  delivery,  preliminary  study,  with  a 
view  of  comprehending  and  assimilating  the  thought  and 
feeling,  should  always  precede  any  attempt  to  speak.  A  fter 
such  study,  speak  colloquially  —  as  you  would  in  conversa- 
tion—  making  your  delivery  thoughtful,  earnest,  direct, 
strong  talk. 

The  general  suggestions  previously  made  in  this  chapter 
are  summarized  and  made  more  specific  in  the  appended 
directions  and  questions.  It  will  be  found  profitable  to 
write  out  a  report  of  your  selection,  answering  fully  all  the 
following  whenever  an  answer  is  possible. 

The  Mastery  of  an  Address:  Questions  and  Suggestions. 

1.  Who  is  the  author  or  speaker?     Under  what  circumstances 
was  the  selection  first  written  or  spoken?     If  possible,  read  the 
article  or  address  in  full. 

2.  Read  the  selection  silently,  and  re-read  until  you  grasp  its 
meaning  as  a  whole.     Express  in  a  single  sentence  the  gist  of  the 
whole  selection. 

3.  Can  you  see  the  thought-movement  from  beginning  to  end  ? 
Is  the  line  of  thought  logical  and  consecutive  ?    Do  the  paragraphs 
mark  the  natural  divisions?      If  not,  re-paragraph  ;  then  stat.-,  in 
a  single  sentence,  the  central  thought  of  each  paragraph. 

4.  What  is  the  first  new  idea  in  each  sentence?     (I'nderscore 
once.)     What  word,  phrase, or  clause  in  each  sentence  carries  the 
principal  idea?     (Underscore  twice.)     Note  that  the  answers  to 
these  two  questions  may  sometimes  be  identical. 

5.  What  word  or  group  of  words  in  each  sentence  exprv- 
single  idea?    Separate  these  groups  by  vertical  lines. 

6.  Dwell  on   the    meaning   of   each  word.     Note  the  relative 
importance  of  each  word  as  expressive  of  the  thought.     ])<•  you 
know  the  meaning  of  every  proper  name?     Comment  on  wonls  of 
peculiar  significance. 

7.  Analyze  the  language  in  order  to  call  up  the  associated  ideas. 
What  associated  ideas  present  themselves  to  your  mind? 

8.  Explain  all  historical  or  other  allusions. 


NATURE  AND  BASIS  OF  PUBLIC  SPEAKING.      15 

9.  Analyze  the  selection  to  find  its  emotion.  Note  the  varied 
and  changing  emotions.  What  is  the  predominant  emotion  or 
atmosphere  of  the  selection  ?  Think  over  the  selection,  and  wait 
until  the  emotion  matures. 

10.  In  the  process  of  memorizing,  observe  the  following  steps : 
(1)  Link  the  ideas  together  in  a  chain  of  thought.  Close  the  eyes 
and  follow  the  thought  of  the  speech  through  without  vocalizing 
a  word.  ("2)  With  closed  eyes  try  to  express  orally  the  chain  of 
ideas  in  the  words  of  the  writer.  Wherever  difficulty  arises,  study 
that  particular  part.  Do  not  memorize  the  words  by  a  parrot-like 
repetition.  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  in  minutest  detail  the  exact 
words  of  the  author.  (3)  Now  talk  the  address  to  yourself  or  to 
an  imaginary  hearer,  as  you  would  converse.  Do  not  try  to 
"  speak  "  or  gesticulate  until  the  speech  is  a  part  of  yourself.  Make 
tin-  thought  your  thought,  the  words  your  words.  Re-create  the 
thoughts  and  emotions  of  the  speech,  —  you  are  then  prepared  to 
use  your  mind  and  feelings  in  speaking  it  to  your  audience. 

This  preliminary  preparation  is  not  the  easiest  process, 
but  it  outlines  the  only  proper  method  of  approaching  the 
delivery  of  any  address.  Clear  expression  is  born  of  clear 
thought.  Unless  thought  and  emotion  are  present  .in  the 
act  of  delivery,  there  can  be  no  effective  speaking.  Public 
speaking,  we  might  say,  is  the  oral  reproduction  of  one's 
own  or  another's  ideas,  —  in  either  case,  of  ideas  previously 
thought  out,  classified,  and  assimilated.  When  thought, 
not  the  vocalizing  of  words  merely,  becomes  the  primary 
object,  public  speaking  is  an  incomparable  means  for  mental 
training.  Consider  the  sustained  mental  effort,  in  the  midst 
of  distractions  such  as  other  experiences  rarely  involve, 
that  is  required  in  a  successful  public  address.  The  stu- 
dent in  his  room  may  alternately  think  and  muse.  The 
public  speaker  must  think,  intensely,  clearly,  consecutively, 
moving  by  natural  transitions  from  idea  to  idea;  for  any 
musing  or  wool-gathering  in  the  presence  of  an  audience  is 
fatal. 


16  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

We  thus  see  that  there  must  be  a  mental  and  emotional 
basis  for  public  speaking.  But  this  alone  is  not  enough. 
Thought  must  be  communicated  through  a  physical  medium. 
This  medium  is  the  voice  and  the  body.  It  is  therefore 
necessary  to  give  some  attention  to  the  technique  of  expres- 
sion. This  is  set  forth  in  succeeding  chapters.  It  should 
be  constantly  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  technique  —  the 
art  side  of  our  subject  —  is  a  means,  not  an  end ;  and  further, 
this  end  —  the  conveyance  and  impress  of  thought  —  must 
be  constantly  in  mind,  else  there  can  be  no  true  mastery  of 
the  means. 

SUMMARY. 

The  best  public  speaking  is  enlarged  and  heightened  conversa- 
tion, The  basis  of  effective  speaking  is  clear  and  orderly  thought, 
attained  by  a  thorough  analysis  and  assimilation  of  the  discourse, 
Such  thought-preparation  must  always  precede,  and  thinking 
must  always  accompany,  all  efforts  in  the  art  of  delivery. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  VOICE, 

The  Importance  and  the  Possibility  of  Voice  Culture. — 
There  are  two  means  of  expression, — by  the  voice  and  by  the 
body.  For  our  purposes,  the  voice  demands  the  first  and 
foremost  attention.  A  clear,  resonant,  musical  voice  is 
surely  an  enviable  possession.  "  A  good  voice  has  a  charm 
in  speech,  as  in  song ;  oftentimes  of  itself  enchains  atten- 
tion." In  an  article  in  Scribner*s  Magazine  for  June,  1901, 
Senator  Hoar  says :  "  When  every  other  faculty  of  the 
orator  is  acquired,  it  sometimes  almost  seems  as  if  voice 
were  nine-tenths,  and  everything  else  but  one-tenth,  of  the 
consummate  orator.  It  is  impossible  to  overrate  the  im- 
portance to  his  purpose  of  that  matchless  instrument,  the 
human  voice." 

This  chief  medium  of  expression,  capable  of  conveying  all 
shades  of  thought  with  exquisite  delicacy,  be  it  in  con- 
versation, reading  aloud,  or  public  speech,  the  great  instru- 
ment whereby  the  hearts  of  an  audience  may  be  made  to 
beat  in  unison,  — is  it  not  a  matter  for  wonderment  that  we 
do  not  give  more  attention  to  the  training  of  the  speaking 
voice  ?  What  sort  of  a  voice  have  you  ?  High-pitched  or 
low  ?  Throaty,  hollow,  or  breathy  ?  Have  you  ever  asked 
yourself,  or  had  a  good  judge  tell  you?  If  you  have  a  weak 
or  harsh,  disagreeable  voice,  can  anything  be  done  to  help 
it  ?  Certainly  there  can.  We  have  gymnastics  to  straighten 
the  back,  to  develop  the  chest  or  any  specially  weak  organ 

17 


18  PUBLIC  SPEAEIX',. 

or  muscle.  So  are  there  gymnastics  that  will  strengthen 
and  improve  the  voice ;  but  just  as  in  all  gymnastics,  there 
must  be  systematic  and  continued  practice  before  results  will 
follow.  A  good  voice  is  not  altogether  a  freak  of  nature. 
We  certainly  do  not  act  on  this  principle  in  dealing  with 
the  singing  voice.  While  a  "naturally"  good  voice  is  a 
boon,  it  is  generally  recognized  that  to  be  a  really  success- 
ful singer,  one  must  take  at  least  two  or  three  years  of 
special  training.  The  same  is  true  of  the  speaking  voice, 
and  the  same  training  will  produce  equally  satisfactory 
results.  The  trouble  is,  few  speakers  realize  this,  or  have 
the  patience  and  perseverance  to  undergo  a  training  similar 
to  that  which  we  know  is  indispensable  for  the  singer.  The 
singer  develops  not  only  strength  and  volume  of  tone,  but 
also  improves  the  quality,  or  timbre.  The  same  may  be  done 
by  properly  training  the  voice  for  speaking.  If,  then,  the 
voice  can  be  strengthened  and  controlled  for  speaking  in 
public,  it  becomes  apparent  that  this  strengthening  and 
controlling  process  should  be  gone  through  with  in  the 
preliminary  stages  of  the  development  of  the  speaker.  How 
many  public  speakers  there  are  whose  voices  grate  and  grind 
on  the  nerves  of  the  hearers,  —  voices  whose  defects  a  mini- 
mum of  preliminary  attention  would  at  least  have  mended, 
if  not  wholly  cured. 

In  the  vocal  and  other  exercises  that  are  suggested  in  this 
and  succeeding  chapters,  the  question  is  perforce  brought 
home  to  the  mind  of  the  student,  What  am  I  doing  with  my 
voice  and  body  ?  Am  I  making  the  best  use  of  them  as 
mediums  of  expression?  In  other  words,  good  habits  are 
to  be  strengthened  and  perfected,  bad  habits  are  to  be 
eliminated  and  better  habits  formed  in  their  stead.  To 
form  a  new  habit  in  the  place  of  an  old  one,  we  must  give 
conscious  attention,  first,  to  the  fault;  and  secondly,  to 
the  formation  of  the  new  habit.  This,  you  say,  makes  you 


THE   VOICE.  19 

self-conscious.  True,  but  only  as  a  means  to  an  end.  Self- 
consciousness  on  the  part  of  many  public  speakers  to  whom 
we  are  compelled  to  listen  would  be  a  blessed  relief  to  the 
audience.  By  this  is  meant,  of  course,  consciousness  of 
glaring  faults  for  the  purpose  of  correction.  The  young 
speaker  should  first  know  what  he  is  doing  with  his  voice 
and  his  body.  After  conscious  attention  to  faults,  prac- 
tice—  conscientious,  systematic,  continued  practice,  and 
then  —  practice  again.  Cicero  long  ago  taught  that  "the 
exertion  and  exercise  of  the  voice,  of  the  breath,  of  the 
whole  body,  and  of  the  tongue  itself,  do  not  so  much  require 
art  as  labour."  Like  every  other  art,  if  public  speaking  is 
one  one-hundredth  theory,  it  is  ninety-nine  one-hundredths 
practice.  The  formation  of  this  new  habit  to  supplant  the 
old  is  hard  at  first.  You  have  years  of  wrong  practice  to 
overcome;  but  by  constant  watchfulness  and  persistency 
the  new  habit  becomes  easier  and  easier  until  what  was  at 
first  conscious,  painful  rtt'urt  lias  become  an  accustomed  prac- 
tice,—  a  new  habit.  In  other  words,  the  task  is,  through 
conscious  attention  for  a  time,  to  form  other  and  better 
li ub its,  which  when  firmly  fixed  will  be  as  unconscious  as 
were  formerly  the  faulty  ones. 

How  Speech  is  Effected.  —  It  is  unnecessary  to  treat  in  any 
detail  the  anatomy  or  physiology  of  the  vocal  organs.  We 
all  know  the  process  of  voice-production,  —  how  the  column 
of  air  coming  from  the  lungs  through  the  trachea  is  arrested 
in  the  larynx  by  the  vocal  cords,  which,  vibrating,  produce 
sound.  This  sound,  by  various  positions  of  the  throat  and 
mouth  cavity,  is  converted  into  vowels,  and  by  sundry  inter- 
ruptions and  modifications  through  the  action  of  the  palate, 
tongue,  teeth,  and  lips,  the  consonants  are  formed.  The 
various  combinations  of  these  vowel  and  consonant  sounds 
constitute  our  spoken  language. 


20  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

Breathing.  —  Scientists  tell  us  that  man's  vitality  is  meas- 
ured by  his  lung  capacity.  The  speaker  needs  vitality  if  he 
is  to  vitalize  his  audience.  He  needs  the  all-round,  health- 
ful physical  training  now  generally  recognized  as  essen- 
tial to  real  education,  and  which  Herbert  Spencer  calls 
"physical  morality."  And  just  as  the  athlete  needs  spe- 
cial training  for  a  special  event,  so  the  speaker  needs 
special  gymnastics  for  the  use  of  the  breath.  Breath  is 
the  stuff  of  which  voice  is  made.  To  produce  tone  we  must 
have  breath  coming  from  the  lungs  ;  to  produce  a  strong  tone, 
we  must  have  breath  in  sufficient  volume  and  force ;  to  pro- 
duce a  sustained  tone,  we  must  have  a  generous  supply  of 
air  stored  in  the  lungs.  Again,  in  ordinary  breathing  we 
inhale  and  exhale  regularly  —  a  constant  stream  of  air  going 
to  and  coming  from  the  lungs.  In  speaking,  however,  we 
must  inhale  quickly  at  the  pauses  in  our  speech,  and  exhale 
slowly,  converting  the  exhalations  into  vocal  sounds.  Now, 
we  must  learn  to  perform  properly  this  inhaling  and  exhal- 
ing process.  How  often  do  we  hear  speakers  gasp  for 
breath  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence,  and  perhaps  audibly 
breathe  out  a  generous  supply  at  the  end  of  a  sentence.  Or 
they  inhale  with  a  loud  gasp  on  beginning,  as  though  they 
had  just  come  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  —  swallow  the 
sentence,  as  it  were,  —  then  bang  out  the  first  few  words  to 
"split  the  rafters,"  and  soon  subside  to  end  the  sentence 
in  another  gasp.  They  "  get  out  of  breath  "  and  run  down 
at  the  end  of  a  sentence,  like  a  clock  that  needs  winding. 
This  suggests  the  need  not  only  of  breath-quantity,  but  of 
breath-control. 

And  first,  as  to  quantity.  We  know  the  different  ways  in 
which  the  chest  capacity  is  enlarged  whereby  the  lungs  are 
filled  with  air.  We  may  lift  the  shoulders  and  collar-bone 
and  so  enlarge  the  upper  part  of  the  chest.  This  is  called 
clavicular  or  collar-bone  breathing.  This  method  is  some- 


THE   VOICE.  21 

times  necessitated  temporarily  by  disease,  permanently  by 
tight  lacing,  and  is  as  bad  for  the  voice  as  it  is  for  the 
health.  To  use  only  the  upper  and  smaller  part  of  the  coni- 
cal shaped  chest  requires  frequent  respiration.  By  this 
method  we  secure  the  smallest  supply  of  breath  at  the 
greatest  expense  of  strength.  Further,  this  method  necessi- 
tates an  attempt  to  control  the  breath  in  the  throat,  which 
was  never  intended  for  this  purpose.  It  tends  to  cause  the 
breath  to  come  in  spurts,  or  more  air  to  escape  than  can  be 
vocalized,  making  the  voice  trembling,  jerky,  wheezing,  or 
"throaty."  It  causes  a  constrained  position  of  the  vocal 
organs,  —  a  condition  that  is  responsible  for  "  clergyman's 
sore  throat." 

A  second  method  of  enlarging  the  chest  is  by  extending 
the  lower  or  floating  ribs  sideways.  This  is  called  costal 
or  rib  breathing.  It  has  many  advantages  over  the  first 
method.  It  fills  the  middle  portion  of  the  lungs,  and  should 
be  employed  in  connection  with  the  third  method,  whereby 
the  lower  part  of  the  lungs  are  reached.  This  is  called 
abdominal,  diaphragmatic,  or  deep  breathing.  The  dia- 
phragm contracts,  moves  downward,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  abdominal  muscles  expand  the  lower  chest  later- 
ally, thus  creating  a  large  cavity  for  the  air  to  enter.  Now, 
the  muscles  that  control  respiration  are  partly  voluntary 
and  partly  involuntary.  By  conscious  attention  we  can 
learn  to  use  them  properly.  Do  you  use  the  lower  part  of 
your  lungs  in  respiration  ?  If  not,  you  must  learn  to  do  so. 
This  is  an  exercise  not  for  the  voice  only;  athletes,  and 
others  who  need  their  full  lung  capacity,  acquire  the  habit 
of  deep  breathing.  In  forming  this  habit,  give  your  pri- 
mary attention  to  using  the  diaphragm,  and  the  rib  breathing 
will  take  care  of  itself ;  think  of  filling  the  lower  part  of 
the  lungs.  Place  the  hands  above  the  hips,  press  firmly  as 
you  inhale,  and  you  can  soon  learn  if  you  are  using  the 


22  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

diaphragm  in  breathing.  If  not,  use  it,  and  practise  using 
until  it  becomes  an  unconscious  habit.  Watch  yourself 
when  walking  or  reclining.  The  speaker  cannot  have  a 
strong,  pure,  resonant,  sustained  tone  unless  he  breathes 
deeply.  This  method  gives  him  a  reserve  supply  of  air  in 
the  lungs.  Further,  the  speaker  frequently  needs  to  con- 
trol the  voice  with  the  diaphragm.  This  is  the  case  in 
strong,  dynamic  utterance.  Again,  with  the  breath  supply 
removed  from  the  upper  chest,  this  is  left  free  for  the  cen- 
tre of  resonance,  a  function  it  performs  in  producing  the 
orotund  or  chest  tone. 

Pure  Tone.  —  The  lungs  may  be  said  to  occupy  one  ex- 
treme in  the  machinery  of  voice  production.  The  mouth  is 
the  other  extreme.  The  vocal  sound,  sometimes  called  the 
"  middle  voice,"  is  produced  in  the  larynx.  We  not  only 
need  propelling  power  for  a  current  of  air  against  the  vocal 
cords,  but  we  must  also  open  the  mouth  —  in  front  and 
back  —  to  let  the  sound  out.  It  is  obvious  that  if  sound 
is  to  proceed  from  the  mouth,  it  must  have  room  to  pass, 
yet  in  both  conversation  and  public  speaking  this  principle 
is  constantly  disregarded.  We  cramp  the  throat  muscles 
and  swallow  the  sound.  We  mumble.  We  send  the  sound 
partially  or  wholly  through  the  nose.  We  roll  the  tongue 
around  and  so  obstruct  the  sound.  We  close  the  jaw  and 
bite  off  the  sound.  We  close  the  lips  and  sputter.  The 
mouth-opening  habit,  in  speaking,  should  be  encouraged  and 
practised.  And  at  the  very  outset,  the  power  should  be 
acquired  of  giving  an  open  or  pure  vowel  tone.  What  is  a 
pure  tone  ?  It  is  a  tone  that  comes  directly  from  the  vocal 
cords,  unvaried  and  unobstructed.  The  point  is,  to  keep 
your  tongue,  jaws,  and  lips  out  of  the  way,  and  especially 
to  keep  the  throat  muscles  relaxed.  The  back  part  of  the 
mouth  is  to  be  opened  as  well  as  the  front  part.  Remem- 


THE   VOICE.  23 

bering,  then,  to  keep  the  mouth  well  opened  in  exhalation, 
practise  the  following  — 

Exercises  in  Deep  Breathing. 

1.  Hands  on  hips.  Open  mouth  widely.  Inhale  slowly  by 
using  diaphragm.  Exhale  slowly. 

"2.    Inhale  quickly,  exhale  slowly. 

:>.  Inhalf  quickly,  exhale  slowly,  vocalizing  uh  with  a  dia- 
phragmatic impulse. 

4.  Inhale  quickly,  «-\Iiale  slowly,  vocalizing  in  turn,  after  suc- 
cessive inhalations,  ah,  oh,  aw,  making  diaphragm  muscles  active 
and  throat  muscles  passive. 

5.  Cultivate  muscular  consciousness  by  breathing  deeply  when 
lying  on  your  hack  or  when  walking. 

6.  Take  a  deep  inhalation,  and  read,  at  your  ordinary  rate,  as 
many    lines   as    you   can  easily,  of   the  following  extract   from 
Southey's  Cntnrnrt  nf  l.ntlorf.     Practice  should  enable  you  to  read 
the   whole   in  a  single  expiration,  but  do  not  exhaust  the  lungs  in 
the  prn 


and  leaping, 
Sinking  and  creeping, 
Swelling  ami  flinging, 
Showering  and  springing, 
Eddying  and  whisking, 
Spouting  and  frisking, 
Twining  and  twisting, 
Around  and  around; 
Collecting,  disjecting, 
With  endless  rebound  ; 
Smiting  and  fighting, 
A  sight  to  delight  in, 
Confounding,  astounding, 
Dizzing  and  deafening  the  ear  with  its  sound. 

In  practising  the  exercises,  the  main  point  is,  I  repeat, 
systematic  and  continued  practice.  Practice  for  two  or 
three  days,  or  once  a  week,  is  worthless.  Set  aside  fifteen 


24  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

minutes  at  two  periods  of  the  day.  This  had  best  not  be 
when  tired  or  directly  after  eating.  Even  if  you  have 
already  acquired  the  habit  of  deep  breathing,  the  practice 
will  do  no  harm.  Especially  Exercise  4,  for  a  pure  tone, 
should  be  practised  daily  for  a  long  period.  Listen  to  the 
quality  of  your  tone  in  giving  these  vowel  sounds,  and  cul- 
tivate an  ear  for  a  full,  round,  musical,  pure  tone.  You  will 
soon  learn  to- detect  for  yourself  the  quality  of  your  tone  in 
giving  these  vowel  sounds,  and  to  open  the  voice-channels 
so  that  the  sound  is  free  and  unobstructed — pure. 

Along  with  the  breathing  exercises,  and  preparatory  to 
facility  in  enunciation,  practise  the  following  — 

Exercises  for  the  Vocal  Organs. 

1.  Lips. — (a)    Open  the  mouth  widely  in  every  way.      Take  a 
mirror  and  look  at  the  tongue,  the  soft  palate,  the  back  of  the 
throat. 

(ft)    Round  the  lips,  sounding  oo. 
(c)    Draw  lips  sideways,  sounding  ee. 

2.  Tongue.  —  (a)  Open  the  mouth  wide.     Put  the  tongue  out 
straight  as  far  as  possible.     Then  draw  it  back  quickly,  and  let  it 
lie  flat  and  low  in  the  mouth. 

(6)    With  the  very  tip  of  the  tongue  touch,  in  turn,  the  lower 
teeth,  upper  teeth,  roof  of  the  mouth. 

3.  Nasality. — Close  the  nostrils  and  say,  sending  none  of  the 
vocalization  through  the  nose,     "  I  try  to  speak  clearly." 

4.  Throat  and  Glottis. — With  a  ringing  utterance,  sound  ing  in 
"  recoilm<7,  turmoilm^,  and  foiling,  and  boilm<7,"  prolonging  this 
syllable  with  a  bell-like  resonance,  avoiding  sympathetically  squeez- 
ing the  throat. 

5.  Jaws. — Drop  the  lower  jaw  as  far  as  possible  and  repeat, 
very   slowly  at  first,   gradually  accelerating  at  each  repetition, 
"  We,  wick,  wack,  walk." 

All  this  may  appear  simple,  if  not  silly.      But  if  you 
have,  for  example,  for  years  been  accustomed  to  close  the 


THE   VOICE.  25 

jaw,  or  partially  close  it,  in  the  act  of  speaking,  and  so 
swallow  or  muffle  your  tones,  it  is  a  little  matter  that  may 
of  itself  prevent  you  from  speaking  clearly ;  and  the  only 
way  for  one  to  form  the  habit  of  opening  the  mouth  is  —  to 
open  it.  Such  things  may  be  trifles;  but  attention  to  trifles 
often  makes  the  difference  between  a  good  speaker  and  a 
poor  one. 

When  you  find  you  have  some  special  trouble  covered  by 
the  foregoing  exercises,  practise  this,  and  keep  at  it.  Do 
not  at  first  overdo  these  exercises.  Just  as  one  when  first 
riding  a  bicycle  finds  that  he  is  using  a  new  set  of  muscles, 
so  in  these  exercises,  if  you  have  not  had  a  full  and  free 
play  of  the  vocal  organs,  you  will  find  you  are  using  muscles 
that  have  been  lying  dormant.  Never  carry  the  practice  to 
the  point  of  weariness. 

SUMMARY. 

We  have  seen  that  the  voice  can  and  should  be  cultivated ;  that 
the  basis  of  tone-production  is  breath-quantity  and  breath-control, 
acquired  by  deep  breathing;  that  the  vocal  organs  may  be 
strengthened  and  controlled;  and  that  faults  of  voice  can  and 
should  be  cured  by  systematic  and  persistent  practice, 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION, 

Definition  of  Terms.  —  Good  pronunciation  is  that  manner 
of  uttering  words  which  is  held  to  be  correct,  as  based  on  the 
practice  of  the  best  speakers.  Enunciation,  also  called 
Articulation,  relates  to  distinctness  in  the  utterance  of  sylla- 
bles or  words.  These  terms  are  often  used  interchangeably, 
but  Pronunciation  refers  especially  to  giving  the  proper 
accent  and  syllabication,  and  to  correctly  sounding  the 
vowels ;  Enunciation  and  Articulation  refer  especially  to 
the  distinct  utterance  of  consonants  and  syllables.  Pronun- 
ciation refers  to  correctness  in  speech,  Enunciation  to  dis- 
tinctness. 

PRONUNCIATION. 

Importance  of  Correct  Pronunciation.  —  To  pronounce  cor- 
rectly the  words  in  our  language  —  uniformly  to  give  in 
every  word  we  utter  the  proper  vowel  sounds  and  the  proper 
accentuation  —  is  a  consummation  as  desirable  as  it  is  rare. 
One  seldom  attains  perfection  in  the  pronunciation  of  words 
in  the  English  language,  and  many  educated  people  fall  far 
short  of  an  approximation  to  correctness.  Glaring  faults  of 
pronunciation,  however,  grate  upon  the  ear,  just  as  mis- 
spelled words  disturb  the  eye.  While  absolute  correctness 
is  rarely  found,  one  can,  by  attention  and  practice,  attain 
a  fair  approximation  to  good  usage. 

Faults  of  Pronunciation.  —  As  a  general  principle,  we  may 
say  that  any  method  of  utterance  which  calls  attention  to 

26 


PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION.  27 

the  speaker's  pronunciation  or  enunciation  rather  than  to 
the  thought  his  language  is  intended  to  convey,  is  a  fault. 
The  two  extremes  of  faulty  pronunciation  are  the  careless 
and  provincial  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  unusual  and  precise 
on  the  other.  He  who  pronounces  for  as  fur,  since  as 
sence,  window  as  winder,  now  as  naoiv,  catch  as  ketch,  from 
as  frum,  and  so  on,  represents  the  provincial  class  that 
usually  has  the  further  faults  of  slovenly  articulation  and 
bad  grammar.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  over-precise, 
affectedly  cultured  class  that  pronounce  neither  as  nither, 
pretty  as  pretty,  nature  as  natyoor,  laugh  as  lawf,  and  so  on. 
But  while  a  strained  and  unusual  pronunciation  is  a  common 
fault,  carelessness  is  a  far  more  common  one. 

Tests  of  Good  Pronunciation.  —  The  test  of  good  pronunci- 
ation is  the  common  practice  of  the  best  speakers.  True, 
the  "best  speakers"  an-  not  easily  determined;  but  supple- 
mented with  a  study  of  the  dictionary,  the  best  usage  can 
be  discovered  and  acquired.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
pronunciation  is,  after  all,  a  matter  not  of  right,  but  of  cus- 
tom. It  is  a  somewhat  varying  thing,  changing  from  age  to 
age,  and  even  from  decade  to  decade.  No  absolute  standard 
of  pronunciation  can  be  laid  down  ;  it  is  simply  a  matter  of 
having  uniformity  for  the  sake  of  convenience.  We  have  in 
America  no  one  locality  that  can  assume  to  set  the  standard. 
The  main  reliance  as  to  the  most  generally  approved  usage 
is  a  good  dictionary ;  and  yet,  as  Professor  Lounsbury  states, 
"  Not  a  single  one  of  our  pronouncing  dictionaries  is  a  final 
authority.''  Though  not  an  infallible  guide,  an  up-to-date 
dictionary  is,  however,  reliable  enough  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses. .The  main  point  is,  our  pronunciation  should  not 
reveal  an  ignorance  of  the  standard  pronunciation  of  com- 
mon words.  For  example,  on  page  28  is  a  brief  list  of  words 
suggested  by  the  mistakes  of  students  in  pronouncing  them. 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 


List  of  Words  frequently  Mispronounced. 


abdomen 

Daniel 

homage 

nature 

acoustics 

deaf 

horizon 

none 

again 

decorous 

hovel 

now 

against 

deficit 

humble 

oath 

America 

despicable 

humor 

oaths 

anarchist 

duty 

ideal 

prairie 

antarctic 

economic 

ideas 

precedence 

applicable 

education 

inaugurate 

precedents 

Arab 

either 

inchoate 

prestige 

auxiliary 

England 

incomparable 

pretty 

aversion 

English 

indisputable 

principle 

balm 

envelope 

infamous 

regular 

because 

every 

inquiry 

research 

been 

fa9ade 

integral 

resource 

believe 

faucet 

interest 

rid 

blithe 

February 

intrigue 

rinse 

buoy 

financier 

irregular 

robust 

catch 

forehead 

isolate 

Rio  Grande 

calm 

fountain 

Italian 

sergeant 

certainly 

gallant  (brave) 

jaunty 

since 

chastisement 

gallant  (chival- 

just 

squalor 

Chicago 

rous) 

laboratory 

stalwart 

citizenship 

gather 

lamentable 

steady 

cleanly 

gaunt 

languor 

toward 

column 

gentleman 

laugh 

turbine 

constitution 

genuine 

legate 

vehement 

corps 

haunt 

leisure 

which 

courier 

hearth 

lever 

window 

courtesy 

heinous 

literature 

whole 

cow 

herb 

memory 

wound 

creek 

history 

mischieyous 

zoology 

The  list  might  of  course  be  extended  almost  indefinitely. 
For  the  most  part,  the  words  given  belong  in  an  ordinary 
vocabulary.  Test  yourself  on  this  list.  You  will  find  that 
some  of  the  words  may  be  correctly  pronounced  in  more  than 


PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION.  29 

one  way;  and  in  such  cases  the  preferred  dictionary  pro- 
nunciation should  always  be  tested  by  the  common  practice 

of  good  speakers. 

ENUNCIATION. 

Importance  of  Distinct  Enunciation.  —  Objectively  consid- 
ered, we  may  say  that  effective  speaking  must  be  (1)  heard, 
(2)  understood,  and  (3)  believed.  It  is  evident  that  speech 
is  futile  when  it  cannot  be  heard,  although  the  speaker  may 
have  a  clear  understanding  of,  and  most  earnest  belief  in, 
his  message.  "  Is  not  this,  then,"  says  George  William 
Curtis,  "the  beginning  of  oratory,  to  make  yourself  heard 
and  to  make  your  hearer  wish  to  hear?" 

Enunciation  has  largely  to  do  with  the  first  of  these  tests 
of  effective  speaking,  —  that  of  being  heard.  The  best  speak- 
ers not  only  may  be  heard,  but  they  enunciate  so  clearly 
that  there  is  the  best  economy  of  the  hearer's  attention.  It 
is  a  lamentable  fact  that  many  experienced  speakers,  who 
have  something  to  say  really  worth  hearing,  are  only  half 
intelligible  because  of  their  faulty  enunciation.  The  trouble 
is  a  lack  not  of  loudness,  but  of  distinctness.  Mere  loud- 
ness,  in  fact,  in  many  auditoriums,  will  only  accentuate 
a  poor  enunciation;  and  the  mistake  is  frequently  made 
of  speaking  loudly  rather  than  clearly.  If  a  speaker 
cannot  be  heard,  the  cause  will  be  found  not  so  much  in 
weakness  of  voice  as  in  weakness  of  articulation.  Char- 
lotte Cushinan  and  Edwin  Booth,  it  is  said,  could  whisper 
so  that  every  word  uttered  would  be  heard  in  the  most  dis- 
tant part  of  a  large  auditorium.  How  was  this  possible  ? 
By  a  vigorous  and  clear-cut  articulation.  True,  other  things 
contribute  to  clearness  of  utterance,  —  force,  modulating  the 
voice  to  the  audience  room,  and  sending  it  out  to  the  audi- 
ence ;  but  experience  shows  that  young  speakers  need  more 
drill  on  articulation  than  perhaps  on  any  other  one  thing. 
It  is  the  basis  of  all  intelligible  speaking. 


30  PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

The  Need  of  an  Exaggerated  Enunciation  in  Public  Speech.  — 
We  all  recognize  the  importance  of  distinct  enunciation  in 
conversation,  but  students  usually  fail  to  realize  the  need  of 
an  exaggerated  articulation  in  public  speaking.  That  is,  a 
mode  of  utterance  partially  indistinct  in  conversation  be- 
comes wholly  indistinct  when  the  auditor  is  farther  removed 
from  the  speaker;  one  who  can  be  heard  in  conversation 
with  an  effort  becomes  unintelligible  when  addressing  an 
audience.  We  must,  therefore,  draw  the  distinction  between 
a  conversational  manner  and  conversational  articulation.  In 
Chapter  I,  public  speaking  was  characterized  as  "  enlarged 
and  heightened  conversation."  These  adjectives  are  espe- 
cially applicable  to  the  enunciation  required  for  public 
speaking.  The  syllables  and  words  must  be  more  clearly 
separated  and  sounded  than  in  conversation,  and  the  voice 
sent  out  to  the  audience.  You  cannot  speak  to  an  audience 
of  any  size  with  the  same  enunciation  that  you  would  use  in 
speaking  to  a  friend  at  your  side.  If  you  do,  you  will  not 
be  understood. 

Faults  in  Enunciation  and  their  Correction. — Excepting 
cases  of  stuttering,  or  of  real  impediment  in  speech,  such  as 
may  need  the  employment  of  a  surgeon,  any  one,  by  system- 
atic practice,  can  attain  a  distinct  enunciation.  If  you  lisp, 
giving  the  th  sound  for  s,  you  must  learn  to  get  control  of 
the  tip  of  the  tongue,  and  keep  it  from  contact  with  the 
upper  teeth,  in  giving  the  s  sound.  If  your  tongue  is  too 
large  for  your  mouth,  enlarge  the  mouth  cavity  and  keep 
the  tongue  out  of  the  way  when  not  in  use.  If  your  lower 
jaw  protrudes,  or  if  you  have  a  sort  of  chronic  lockjaw, 
if  you  habitually  bite  your  words  off,  or  have  "flannel 
in  the  mouth,"  or"  whistle  your  s's,  —  when  you  find  any 
special  trouble  in  enunciating  clearly, — practise  correcting 
it,  and  keep  at  it  until  you  have  overcome  the  fault. 


PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION.  31 

Now,  good  enunciation  involves  the  three  processes  of 
(1)  sounding  distinctly  the  consonants,  (2)  separating  the 
syllables,  and  (3)  separating  the  words. 

And  first,  one  must  attain  power  over  the  consonants. 
An  old  writer  has  said,  "  Take  care  of  the  consonants,  and 
the  vowels  will  take  care  of  themselves."  The  common 
trouble  is,  not  lack  of  power  over  the  consonants,  but  a 
lack  of  the  exercise  of  such  power.  Bring  out  the  final  t's 
and  d's,  and  do  not  mumble.  Remember  the  articulating 
organs  —  the  lips,  jaw,  teeth,  and  tongue  —  should  be  ac- 
tively employed.  The  point  for  obstruction  of  the  vowel 
sound,  whereby  the  consonant  is  sounded,  should  be  exactly 
and  vigorously  attacked,  and  the  reaction  should  be  quick 
and  smooth.  One  student  will  barely  close  the  lips  in  giving 
6,  p,  and  v.  Another  will  talk  through  the  teeth,  with  the 
mouth  nearly  or  quite  closed.  With  another,  the  tongue  is 
everywhere,  indeed,  an  "  unruly  member."  A  little  atten- 
tion to  this  matter  of  sounding  the  consonants  will  show  the 
number  and  variety  of  muscular  movements,  in  and  about 
the  mouth,  required  for  the  proper  enunciation  of  a  common 
word  like  cirifi'.<iti<>n  ;  and  to  many  students  it  will  show 
that  many  vocal  muscles  that  have  been  lying  dormant 
should  be  developed.  Secondly,  the  syllables  should  be 
distinctly  and  accurately  separated,  each  syllable  enunci- 
ated, and  no  syllable  added.  This  will  avoid  the  common 
fault  of  running  the  syllables  together,  and  of  omitting  or 
adding  syllables.  We  will  not  say  jography  for  geography, 
art ic  for  arctic,  liistry  for  history,  Amerka  for  America,  citzen- 
*////>  for  citizenship,  acrost  for  across,  genelmun  for  gentle- 
man, etc.  Lastly,  the  words  should  be  clearly  separated. 
Careless  speakers  give  their  phrases  or  sentences  as  a 
single  word.  Light  and  dark  are  given  as  lighten  dark; 
that  will  do,  as  that'll  doo;  the  minute-man  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  as  u-min't-man-o'-u-murkan-rev'lution,  etc., 


32  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

—  speaking  like  a  drunken  man,  whose  muscles  are  semi 
paralyzed. 

In  the  exercises  that  follow,  which  are  for  the  purpose  01 
practice  in  articulation,  be  overprecise,  if  you  please,  only 
bring  out  clearly  every  consonant  sound.  To  correct  any 
fault,  it  is  well  at  first  to  go  to  the  opposite  extreme;  so 
overdo  the  effort  for  distinctness.  When  you  find  a  diffi- 
cult sound,  or  combination  of  sounds,  practise  these  over 
and  over  until  you  master  them.  The  exercises  are  arranged 
with  reference  to  the  various  organs  primarily  used  in  articu- 
lating the  respective  consonant  sounds. 

Exercises  in  Articulation. 

I.  The  Labials,  made  primarily  with  the  lips,  are  :  /»,  />. 
m,  w,  v,f. 

1.  Both  brown  beauties  bit  the  black  bait. 

2.  Brawny  black  brutes  bounded  back,  breaking  the  big  bridge. 

3.  Be  bold,  be  bold,  be  not  too  bold. 

4.  Hope  on,  hope  ever. 

5.  The  porter's  parents,  praying  pardon,  pleaded  pitiably. 

6.  Ponto,  the  flippy,  puffing  uninterruptedly,  jumped  up  on 
the  top  of  the  porch. 

7.  Many  unmanageable  monsters,  married  to  magnanimous 
men,  make  much  mischief. 

8.  Mary's  mamma,  admiring  mammon  and  missing  the  man's 
money,  murmured  much  and  mourned  many  months. 

9.  Milestones  mark  the  march  of  time. 
—^40.   Well,  Washington  was  wiser  than  Webster. 

II.  When  William  went  west  where  Wheeler  was  working.  \y 
wished  vve  were  where  we^oald  warn  lu'm. 

12.  The  wherry  at  the  wharf  was  weighed  with  whale  oil  and 
wheat. 

13.  Vain  was  the  valor  of  the  brave  savage. 

14.  The^voiuble,  vivacious  villain  vociferously  vowed  revenge. 

15.  Vivian's  vernacular  gives  vividness  to  every  verse. 

16.  Victor's  verses  revived  a  love  of  adventure. 


PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION.  33 

17.  Firmly  the  fowl  faced  the  fierce  fox. 

18.  Frugal  Flavius,  flushing  feverishly,  found  fault  with  Flora  i 
frivolity. 

1!».  Flags  fluttered  fretfully  from  foreign  fortifications  and 
fleets. 

II.  The  Dentals,  made  by  the  action  of  the  tongue  against 
the  teeth,  and  by  the  emission  of  breath  between  the  teeth, 
are :  d,  t,  8,  »/*,  z,  zh,  j,  ck,  and  the  two  sounds  of  th. 

1.  The  band  blared  sadly,  Dan  declared. 

2.  Daniel  dared  to  dare  Darius. 

:5.    Dora,   defending     sound    doctrines,    discomfited    the    dis- 
putant. 

4.  Tie  taut  the  tent,  and  test  it. 

5.  To-morrow  try  to  talk  truly  and  truthfully. 

6.  Tom  treated  the  delicate  subject  touchingly,  tenderly,  and 
tactfully. 

7.  Thomas,  talking  trivial  twaddle,  tried  twice  to  treat  Tim- 
othy truculently. 

8.  If  Theophilus  Thistle,  the  thistle-sifter,  sjfted  a  sieve  of 
unsifted  thistles,    where    is    the  sieve  of   unsifted    thistles  that 
Theophilus  Thistle,  the  thistle-tifter,  sifted? 

9.  Breathe  with  care,  do  not  mouth  thy  words. 

10.  Thursday  Theodore  gave  Thisbe  the  thousandth  thwack. 

1 1.  Thr^u^h  the  thin  cloth  the  thief  thrust  thorns. 

12.  Cease  sighing,  since  sighs  seldom  secure  success. 

13.  Surely  slowness  and  slovenliness  should  be  shunned. 

14.  Seated  on  shore,  she  sees  ships  with  shining  sails  on  the 
shimmering  sea. 

15.  Rouse  the  zealots  to  resist  the  Zulus. 

1<».  The  zephyr  has  gone,  the  blizzards  are  rising. 

17.  Each  daisy  teaches  a  lesson.     Abuse  them  not. 

18.  Ezra's  seizure  caused  displeasure. 

19.  James,  the  jailer,  judged  John  justly. 

20.  Jacob,  the  Jewish  jockey,  jovially  jingled  Juliet's  jewels. 
21  Gems  and  jewels  just  from  Japan. 

22.    The  chief  cheerfully  chose  the  choicest  chair. 


34  PUBLIC  SPEAKI.\<;. 

23.  Richard  chanted  in  church  like  a  cherub. 

24.  Chastened    with     chafing    chains,     Chauncey     challenged 
Chandler. 

III.  The  Palatals,  made  by  the  aid  of  the  palate,  are :  g, 
h,  k,  y. 

1.  Go  get  the  gun  and  give  the  goose  a  shot. 

2.  Great-grandf  ather,  gowned  gaudily,  gallantly  guarded  ( I 
garlands. 

3.  Who  gave  Hugh  that  howling  hyena? 

4.  I  did  not  say,  wig,  heart,  ear,  hair,  and  all,  but  whig,  art, 
hear,  air,  and  hall. 

5.  **  Kill  the  king,"  the  crank  cried  crossly. 

6.  Kittens  cunningly  crept  across  the  cotton  coverlet. 

7.  The  Ku-Klux  Klan  caused  the  cook  to  keep  her  carving 
knife  keen. 

8.  Youthful  Yankee  yachtsmen  squared  the  yards. 

9.  The  yarns  of  the  ubiquitous  Yankee  used  to  be  humorous. 
10.   Europe's  universities  euphemistically  eulogized  the  union. 

IV.  The  Nasals,  made  by  a  free  escape  of  vocalized  breath 
through  the  nostrils,  are  m,  n,  and  ng,  the  only  sounds  in  our 
language,  by  the  way,  wherein  any  vocalized  breath  is  to  be 
sent  through  or  started  toward  the  nasal  passages. 

1.  No  man  need  know  need  in  this  new  nation. 

2.  Noisy  nomads  never  noticed  Naaman's  noble  name. 

:J.    Xext  noon  non-conformists  announced  renewed  enmity  to 
the  government's  enrolment. 

4.  The  cataract  strong  then  plunges  along, 

Rising  and  leaping,  sinking  and  creeping. 
Showering  and  springing,  flying  and  flinging, 
Writhing  and  ringing. 

V.  The  Linguals,  made  chiefly  with  the  tongue,  are  I  and  r. 

1.  They  fell  like  leaves  and  fill  long  lists. 

2.  Little  likeliness,  laughed  the  low  lawyer,  that  legibility  and 
liability  are  linked  indissolubly. 


PRONUNCIATION  AND  ENUNCIATION.  35 

3.  The  wronged,  ragged  rabble  roared  ravenously. 

4.  The  car  was  adorned  with  corn  and  drawn  by  four  horses. 

5.  Rude,  rocky,  rural  roads  run  round  rocky  ranges. 

6.  Around  the  rough  and  rugged  rock  the  ragged  rascal  ran. 

The  foregoing  examples  include,  it  is  true,  many  unusual 
combinations  and  repetitions  of  consonant  sounds.  Practice 
on  such  combinations  will  serve  only  as  a  means  to  an 
rml,  —  an  active  use  and  ready  control  of  the  articulating 
organs.  So  I  repeat,  overdo  these  exercises.  In  the  actual 
process  of  reading  or  speaking,  the  mind  must  of  -course 
conceive  the  words  as  expressing  thought  to  be  communi- 
cated. A  desire  to  be  clear  must  always  be  at  the  basis  of 
a  clear-cut  articulation.  But  frequently  this  is  not  enough. 
The  physical  means  of,  and  individual  limitations  upon, 
rli-ar  speech,  must  be  noted  and  mastered.  By  this  is  meant, 
not  the  over-precision  of  the  "  prunes,  prisms,  and  potatoes  " 
variety,  or  stressing  sound  rather  than  thought,  but  distinct 
speech.  We  are  not  to  articulate  as  if  such  modifiers  and 
connectives  as  a,  the,  of,  etc.,  were  as  important  as  the  nouns 
and  verbs.  The  unimportant  words  are  to  be  subordinated 
in  utterance,  but  they  are  to  be  enunciated,  else  they  may 
as  well  be  eliminated  from  the  language.  In  other  words, 
\\v  are  to  acquire,  in  this  matter  of  articulation,  combined 
naturaliifss,  ease,  and  distinctness.  Try  this  desired  com- 
bination in  the  examples  following,  and  avoid  both  the  over- 
precise  and  the  slipshod. 

1.  Speak  the  speech,  I  pray  you,  as  I  pronounced  it  to  you, 
trippingly  on  the  tongue.  But  if  you  mouth  it,  as  many  of 
your  players  do,  I  had  as  lief  the  town  crier  spake  my  lines.— 
SIIAKSPEAKE. 

•J.  When  thou  wast  young,  thou  girdedst  thyself,  and  walkedst 
whither  thou  wouldest :  but  when  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shalt 
stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall  gird  thee,  and  carry 
thee  whither  thou  wouldest  not.  —  ST.  JOHN  xxi.  18. 


36  PUBLIC  SPEAKIM;. 

3.  And  the  Gileadites  took  the  passages  of  Jordan  before  the 
Ephrai mites :  and  it  was  so,  that  when  those  Ephraimit«-s  which 
were  escaped  said,  Let  me  go  over;  that  the  men  of  Gilead  said 
unto  him,  Art  thou  an  Ephraimite?      If  he  said,  Nay;  then  said 
they  unto  him,  Say  now  Shibboleth ;  and  he  said  Sibboleth :  for 
he  could  not  frame  to  pronounce  it  right.     Then  they  took  him 
and  slew  him  at  the  passages  of  the  Jordan:  and  there  fell  at  that 
time  of  the  Ephraimites  forty  and  two  thousand. — JUDGES  xii. ."».  •  ;. 

4.  Nature  has  proved  that  the  great  silent  Samuel  shall  not  be 
silent  too  long. — CARLYLE. 

5.  Four  score  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation. —  LINCOLN. 

6.  From  the  dark  portals  of  tjie  Star  Chamber,  and  in  the  stern 
text  of  the  Acts  of  Uniformity,  the  pilgrims  received  a  commis- 
sion more  important  than  any  that  ever  bore   the  royal  seal. — 
EVERETT. 

7.  In  this — God's — world,  with  its  wild,  whirling  eddies  and 
mad  foam  oceans,  where  men  and  nations  perish  as  if  without  law, 
dost  thou  think  there  is  therefore  no  justice? — CARLYI.I 

For  further  practice,  read  any  of  the  selections  in  Chapter 
XIII,  giving  special  attention  to  clear  enunciation. 

SUMMARY. 

Pronunciation  relates  to  correctness  in  speech,  Enunciation  to 
distinctness,  The  speaker's  aim  should  be  to  utter  his  words  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  be  readily  understood,  and  not  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  excite  remark.  Especially  should  he  remember  that  distinct 
enunciation  is  the  basis  of  all  intelligible  speech,  and  that  to  attain 
this,  the  enunciation  of  ordinary  conversation  must  be  exaggerated, 


CHAPTER   IV. 

KEY, 

Definition  of  Terms. — Key  is  the  predominating  tone  or 
pitch  of  the  voice,  in  speaking.  In  music,  as  we  know, 
key  refers  to  the  place  of  the  voice  upon  the  musical  scale. 
It  depends  upon  the  rapidity  with  which  the  vocal  cords 
vibrate.  The  higher  the  pharynx  is  raised  and  the  tauter 
the  cords  are  drawn,  the  greater  the  rapidity  of  vibration 
and  the  higher  the  key.  Key  is  not  to  be  confused  with 
loudness.  A  sound  may  be  subdued  in  a  high  key  or  loud  in 
a  low  key. 

By  Compass,  we  mean  the  range  a  voice  has,  —  the  range 
between  its  highest  and  lowest  limits. 

The  Middle  or  Average  Key. — Now,  just  as  there  is  a 
range  within  which  one  can  sing,  so  there  is  a  range  within 
which  one  can  speak,  most  easily  and  effectively,  and  for 
the  longest  time.  This  average  range  will  determine  the 
dominant  note  or  key.  One  of  the  first  questions  the 
young  speaker  must  ask  himself  is,  Do  I  speak  in  that  key 
most  conducive  to  ease,  effectiveness,  and  sustained  effort  ? 
Bear  in  mind  that  an  habitual  key  is  not  necessarily  a 
natural  key.  Many  people  have  accustomed  themselves  to 
speak  in  either  the  highest  or  lowest  note  of  their  key- 
range,  rather  than  in  the  medium  range.  One  who  speaks 
in  a  high,  thin,  squeaky  tone,  represents  the  one  extreme, 
while  one  who  speaks  as  from  the  bottom  of  a  well,  repre- 
sents the  other  extreme.  Either  extreme  is  a  fault.  In  his 

37 


38  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

treatise  on  Orators  and  Oratory,  Cicero  writes :  "  There  is  in 
every  voice  a  certain  middle  key,  but  in  each  particular  voice 
that  key  is  peculiar.  For  the  voice  to  ascend  gradually 
from  this  key  is  advantageous  and  pleasing ;  since  to  bawl 
at  the  beginning  is  boorish,  and  gradation  is  salutary  in 
strengthening  the  voice.  This  variety  and  this  gradual  pro- 
gression of  the  voice  throughout  all  the  notes  will  preserve 
its  power,  and  add  agreeableness  to  delivery." 

Ease,  variety,  and  strength  depend  on  using  the  middle  or 
average  pitch  of  the  voice ;  we  then  have  a  common  point 
above  and  below  which  the  voice  is  allowed  to  play.  The  im- 
portance of  this  free  and  easy  play  of  the  voice  in  speaking 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Inflection,  emphasis,  climax,  and 
many  other  elements  of  expression,  depend  upon  it.  Now, 
this  middle  pitch  will  vary  with  the  individual.  Physio- 
logical conditions  will  determine  that  the  key  of  one  voice 
shall  be  tenor  and  of  another  bass.  On  the  musical  scale 
the  bass  voice  will  vary  from  say  about  G  (bass  staff)  to 
D,  and  the  tenor  from  about  middle  C  to  G.  The  point  is, 
are  you  utilizing  to  the  best  advantage  the  key-range  that 
nature  has  given  you  ?  What  key  are  you  habitually  using 
in  speaking  ?  If  you  have  a  sense  of  key  in  music,  —  ad- 
vantageous though  not  indispensable  to  the  speaker,  —  test 
your  key  with  the  piano,  speaking  a  sentence  in  a  monotone. 
Suppose  you  find  that  you  habitually  speak  in  about  the 
highest  pitch  of  your  key-range,  —  probably  the  more  com- 
mon fault.  You  must  get  your  voice  down,  else  you  can 
have  no  strength,  no  "  body  "  to  the  speaking  tone,  and  no 
sustained  power.  How  acquire  the  lower  key  ?  Lower  it. 
Find  the  desired  note  on  a  musical  instrument  and  speak 
to  it.  Relax  the  throat  muscles  and  roll  the  voice  out 
from  the  chest.  Think  of  it  as  coming,  if  you.ploao^  from 
the  diaphragm.  Watch  yourself  in  conversation,  and  do 
not  allow  your  voice  to  rise  into  a  high,  constrained  pitch. 


KEY.  39 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  speak  down  "  in  the  shoes "  so 
that  the  tone  is  habitually  swallowed,  learn  to  raise  the  key, 
project  the  tone,  and  get  it  out.  This  acquisition  of  your 
best  individual  average  key  may  involve  the  formation  of  a 
new  habit  and  a  new  voice.  A  good  teacher  can  soon  tell 
you  your  needs,  but  you  must  do  the  rest.  A  study  of  vocal 
anatomy  or  of  rules  will  not  aid  so  much  as  an  appreciation 
of  what  you  need  to  do,  and  systematic  practice.  "Even 
where  Nature  confers  the  blessing  of  a  voice  of  adequate 
strength,  she  seldom  adds  the  desirable  flexibility  or  modula- 
tion. So,  whether  it  be  a  stronger  voice  or  a  more  manage- 
able one  that  the  speaker  needs,  his  only  method  of  acquiring 
it  is  that  of  willing  it  into  his  possession.  ...  If  your  voice 
has  a  tendency  to  go  up,  you  are  to  do  with  it  just  as  you 
should  do  with  your  elbow  if  it  has  a  tendency  to  go  up 
at  the  table  —  put  it  down  and  keep  it  down  by  an  exercise 
of  the  will.  Will  it  down  and  put  it  down,  and  keep  it 
down  until  it  stays  down  without  a  conscious  exercise  of 
the  will." 1 

Adaptation  of  the  Voice  to  the  Room. — Every  room  has  a 
key  of  its  own;  that  is,  has  powers  of  augmenting  some 
sounds,  and  confusing  others,  —  dependent  upon  the  size  of 
the  room,  and  its  acoustic  properties  generally.  This  key, 
or  "  overtone,"  the  experienced  speaker  will  learn  to  detect, 
and  to  adapt  his  key  to  the  particular  auditorium  in  which 
he  is  speaking.  Especially  should  the  speaker,  when  speak- 
ing to  a  large  audience,  avoid  the  common  fault  of  a  high, 
constrained  pitch  that  soon  becomes  painful  to  both  the 
speaker  and  the  hearers.  The  natural  key  should  be  used. 
Colonel  Higginson  lays  down  as  one  of  the  cardinal  rules  of 
speaking:  "Always  speak  in  a  natural  key  and  in  a  conversa- 
tional manner.  .  .  .  But  how  to  reach  that  easy  tone  is  the 
1  Sheppard  :  Before  an  Audience. 


40  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

serious  question.  .  .  .  The  best  way,  of  course,  is  to  be 
natural  without  effort,  if  one  only  could.  .  .  .  There  is 
one  very  simple  method,  and  one  which  I  have  seldom 
known  to  fail.  Suppose  the  occasion  to  be  a  public  dinner. 
You  have  somebody  at  your  side  to  whom  you  have  been 
talking.  To  him  your  manner  was  undoubtedly  natural; 
and  if  you  can  only  carry  along  into  your  public  speech 
that  conversational  flavor  of  your  private  talk,  the  battle  is 
gained.  How,  then,  to  achieve  that  result  ?  In  this  easy  way : 
Express  to  your  neighbor  conversationally  the  thought, 
whatever  it  is,  with  which  you  mean  to  begin  your  public 
speech.  Then,  when  you  rise  to  speak,  say  merely  what 
will  be  perfectly  true,  'I  was  just  saying  to  the  gentle- 
man who  sits  beside  me,  that'  —  and  then  repeat  your  re- 
mark over  again.  You  thus  make  the  last  words  of  your 
private  talk  the  first  words  of  your  public  address,  and  the 
conversational  manner  [key]  is  secured.  This  suggestion 
originated,  I  believe,  with  a  man  of  inexhaustible  fertility 
in  public  speech,  —  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale.  I  have  often  availed 
myself  of  it,  and  have  often  been  thanked  for  suggesting  it 
to  others." l  It  should  be  noted  that  the  natural  or  conver- 
sational key  here  referred  to,  is  wholly  compatible  with  a 
non-conversational  enunciation,  which  was  treated  of  in 
Chapter  III  (p.  30). 

High  Key  not  necessary  for  Increased  Force.  —  Again,  there 
is  a  natural  tendency  to  use  a  high  key  of  voice  as  an  accom- 
paniment offeree.  To  resist  this  tendency — as  old,  it  might 
seem,  as  oratory  itself — the  ancients  stationed  a  musical  per- 
former near  the  speaker  (the  instrument  used  by  the  Romans 
being  called  a  tonoriuiri),  who  from  time  to  time  reminded  him 
of  his  normal  pitch.  The  speaker  of  to-day  must  learn  to  re- 
mind himself.  The  young  speaker  is  apt  to  "  key  up  "  as  he 
1  Higginson :  Hints  on  Writing  and  Speech-making. 


KEY.  41 

warms  up ;  as  emotion  rises,  the  voice  rises,  and  his  speak- 
ing becomes  either  yelling  or  screeching.  But  this  is  as  un- 
necessary as  it  is  undesirable.  True,  climax  is  often  given 
in  a  higher  key,  but  generally  speaking,  force  can  best  be 
voiced  by  the  combined  strength  and  volume  that  the  lower 
register  alone  can  supply.  There  is  a  deepening  of  the  feel- 
ings which  come  welling  out  through  a  lower  key.  So  learn 
to  inert-list1  your  force  and  keep  the  voice  down  in  key.  Do 
not  raise  the  voice  and  rap  the  hearers  over  the  heads,  in 
expressing  force,  but  rather  keep  the  voice  down  and  lift 
the  audience  from  their  seats. 

Modulation.  —  Variation  from  the  average  key  is  one  of 
the  ways  to  avoid  a  monotonous  delivery.  By  the  relative 
degree  and  ease  of  such  variation,  we  say  one  speaker's  voice 
is  flexible  and  another's  stitf.  A  dead  level  in  speaking  is 
one  way  of  putting  an  audience  asleep.  This  monotony  in 
key  is  sometimes  heard  from  the  pulpit.  A  key  suited  to 
the  deeply  emotional  is  carried  also  into  the  expression  of 
the  unemotional ;  so  that  the  announcement  of  a  Sunday- 
school  picnic  is  given  in  the  same  low,  sepulchral  tone  as 
the  announcement  of  a  funeral  sermon. 

No  instrument,  least  of  all  the  voice,  can  be  well  played 
in  a  single  key.  Variation  is  restful  to  both  hearer  and 
speaker.  A  song-note  is  uniform  while  it  lasts,  a  speech- 
note  is  constantly  varying.  During  the  enunciation  of  a 
single  word  or  syllable,  the  voice,  in  speaking,  may  move 
through  its  whole  compass.  The  tension  of  holding  the 
vocal  cords  in  one  position  during  a  given  note  renders  sing- 
ing more  fatiguing.  In  the  trial  of  Hastings,  Edmund  Burke 
spoke  four  days  in  delivering  his  opening  speech  and  nine 
days  in  closing.  To  have  sung  during  this  time  would  have 
been  an  impossible  feat.  And  to  speak  at  such  length, 
Burke  must  have  relieved  the  tension  of  an  unvarying  key. 


4-2  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

If  one  speaks  habitually  in  the  "  upper  register,"  he  has 
what  is  known  as  a  "  head-tone,"  if  in  the  "  lower  register," 
a  "chest-tone."  In  the  one  case  he  makes  the  head  —  the 
roof  of  the  mouth  —  the  sounding-board  for  his  tones ;  in  the 
other  case,  the  chest.  A  prevailing  head-tone  is  the  more 
common  fault.  In  such  cases,  the  speech-note  should  be 
lowered  and  the  vowels  rotted  out  from  the  lungs  rather 
than  from  the  throat.  Think  of  the  chest  as  the  centre  of 
voice-reverberation,  and  by  conscious  effort  centre  it  there. 

Again,  key  should  vary  with  the  matter.  The  manuals 
of  elocution  give  an  elaborate  classification  of  degrees  in 
pitch,  with  rules  as  to  how  matter  of  a  certain  character  fits 
into  a  certain  "  degree,"  but  all  this  is  largely  dogmatic  and 
artificial.  At  any  rate,  it  is  a  case  where  the  rule  is  worse 
than  its  violation.  We  know  that  the  key  in  explanatory 
or  narrative  matter  is  higher  than  in  the  expression  of  deep 
feeling.  In  the  one  case  the  sole  object  is  to  get  some- 
thing lying  easily  in  the  speaker's  mind  into  the  minds  of 
the  hearers ;  in  the  other  case,  there  goes  with  the  thought 
something  of  the  speaker's  life  and  character :  the  impres- 
sion lies  deeper,  and  for  its  expression  a  deeper  note  must 
perforce  be  struck.  This  is  a  single  phase  of  the  matter. 
On  the  other  hand,  strong  feeling  —  as  an  outburst  of  indig- 
nation —  may  often  best  be  expressed  in  a  high  key.  The 
point  is,  to  get  control  and  variety  of  key.  The  rest  can 
best  be  left  to  the  requirements  of  the  varied  and  changing 
emotions  of  a  given  address. 

Exercises  in  Key. 

1.  Test  the  compass  of  your  voice  by  (a)  giving  the  open  vowel 
sounds  —  ah,  aw,  6,  ow  —  up  and  down  the  musical  scale,  (b)  Re- 
peat in  a  monotone  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  key,  and  vice 
versa,  "  Repeat  it  over  and  over  again." 

'2.   Render  the  following  in  a  rising  series,  like  climbing  a  stair- 


KEY.  43 

way,  giving  the  first  line  very  low,  and  each  succeeding  line  higher, 
let  ''ghosts"  be  the  climax  —  highest  of  all. 

"Amidst  the  mists 
With  angry  boasts, 
He  thrusts  his  fists 
Against  the  posts, 
And  still  insists 
He  sees  the  ghosts." 

3.  Practise  Exercise  1  (a)  without  separating  the  notes,  i.e.  let 
the  voice  slide  up  and  down  the  scale.    This  movement  of  the  voice 
is  called  the  rising  or  falling  slide,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  is 
widely  serviceable.    A  flexible  voice,  for  example,  will  slide  easily 
from  a  low  to  a  high  key,  in  an  interrogatory.     Practise  the  rising 
slide  in  asking,  "  Are  you  going  home  to-day  ?  "   Overdo  it,  perhaps, 
by  using  the  whole  compass  of  the  voice.    Suppose  now  your  hearer 
does  not  uml«-r>t;m<l  your  question,  and  you  impatiently  repeat, 
using  the  falling  slide, "  Are  you  going  home  to-day  ?  " 

4.  In  the  selection,  "Conservatism,"  p.  11,  take  the  sentence, 
4-  Then  at  last,  ..."  etc.,  begin  low,  gradually  and  naturally  rise, 
bringing  out  the  expression,  to  the  word  "  hearts,"  and  thence  use 
the  falling  slide. 

5.  Note  the  "  deeper  note,"  previously  alluded  to,  that  is  struck 
in  the  second  sentence  of  the  example  following,  after  Grady  has 
explained  what  "  some  one  has  said,"  and  turns  to  express  his  own 
feelings  and  sentiments  thereon  :  — 

"  Some  one  has  said,  in  derision,  that  the  old  men  of  the  South 
sitting  down  amid  their  ruins,  reminded  him  of  'The  Spanish 
hidalgoes  sitting  in  the  porches  of  the  Alhambra  and  looking  out 
to  sea  for  the  return  of  the  lost  Armada.'  There  is  pathos,  but  no 
derision  in  this  picture  to  me.  These  men  were  our  fathers.  Their 
lives  were  stainless.  Their  hands  were  daintily  cast,  and  the  civili- 
zation they  builded  in  tender  and  engaging  grace  hath  not  been 
equalled." 

6.  Again,  note  the  prevailingly  deeper  note  that  must  be  struck 
to  adequately  express  the  second  paragraph  of  "  Conservatism  " 
(p.  11),  as  compared  with  the  first  paragraph.          » 


44  ITHLIC   SPEAKING. 

SUMMARY. 

Key  is  the  average  pitch  of  the  individual  voice.  By  practice  the 
speaker  can  and  should  use  his  best  individual  key-range,  adapt  the 
key  of  his  voice  to  the  key  of  the  room  in  which  he  is  speaking,  and 
by  modulation  avoid  monotony. 


CHAPTER   V. 

EMPHASIS, 

Definition.  —  Emphasis  is  the  art  of  giving  to  each 
word  its  due  importance.  It  is  to  speaking  what  word- 
arrangement  is  to  rhetoric.  It  consists  of  any  means 
that  the  speaker  may  employ,  whereby  particular  attention 
is  called  to  words  of  special  significance.  Such  words  are 
uttered  in  a  way  to  excite  the  hearer's  special  attention. 
In  its  broader  sense,  emphasis  is  applied  to  sentence  and 
paragraph  relation,  and  to  the  discourse  as  a  whole.  In  this 
broader  signification,  a  speech  might  be  judged  by  the  em- 
phasis used,  for  the  emphasis  is  the  speech.  The  purpose 
in  this  chapter,  however,  is  to  deal  primarily  with  word- 
emphasis. 

Basis  of  Good  Emphasis.  —  Like  all  other  elements  of  ex- 
pression, this  matter  of  emphasis  is  the  double  work  of  mind 
and  voice.  You  cannot  emphasize  a  word  unless  the  mind 
first  perceives  its  importance  for  the  purpose  of  the  thought- 
expression.  The  primary  requisite,  then,  is  a  vivid,  vigorous 
mental  concept ;  the  rest  is  to  have  the  voice  give  expres- 
sion to  such  concept. 

Ways  of  Emphasizing.  —  There  are  three  principal  ways  of 
emphasizing  a  word  or  phrase :  (1)  by  Pause,  (2)  by  Time, 
and  (3)  by  Stress. 

1.  Pause-emphasis.  —  Special  attention  may  be  called  to 
a  word  or  phrase  by  pausing  before  or  after,  or  both  before 

45 


46  PUBLIC  SPEAKIM;. 

and  after,  its  utterance.  Head  the  following  examples  with 
and  without  pausing  at  the  dashes,  and  note  the  difference 
in  the  effect :  — 

(a)  The  one  rule  for  attaining  perfection  in  any  art  is  —  practice. 

(6)  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  —  a  new  nation. 

(c)  In  this —  God's  —  world,  dost  thou  think  there  is  no  justice? 

(</)  Necessity  —  knows  no  rules. 

(e)  To  speak  distinctly  —  is  to  speak  well. 

(/)  The  days  of  pompous  eloquence  —  are  gone  by. 

(<JT)  These  men  —  were  our  fathers ;  their  lives —  were  stainless. 

(A)  The  scenes  amid  which  they  moved,  as  princes  among  mm, 
have  vanished  —  forever. 

2.  Time-emphasis.  —  Again,  a   word    or   phrase    may  be 
emphasized  by  taking  relatively  more  time  for  its  utterance. 
To  take  approximately  the  same  time  in  speaking  each  word, 
whether  important  or  unimportant,  is  to  show  an  utter  lack 
of  discrimination.     Take  relatively  more  time  in  uttering 
the  words  that  carry  the  principal  idea;    expand  —  dwell 
upon  —  the  important  words.      In  the  following  sentence, 
for  example,  note  how  much  more  expressive  of  the  thought 
it  is  to  dwell  upon  the  italicized  words  and  phrases:  — 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon 
this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  <l"licatedto  the 
proposition  that  all  men  are  created  eqiuil. 

3.  Stress-emphasis. — While  pausing  and  time-taking  are 
important,  the  most  important  and  most  common  method  of 
emphasizing  a  word  is  by  means  of  stress.     Hence,  emphasis 
and  stress  are  often  used  synonymously.     The  Century  Dic- 
tionary, for  example,  defines  emphasis  as  "  a  special  stress 
of  the  voice  given  to  the  utterance  of  a  word  ...  in  order  to 
excite  special  attention."     Now,  stress  is  to  emphasis  what 
accent  is  to  syllabication.     In  polysyllabic  words,  indeed,  it 


EMPHASIS.  47 

is  accentuated  accent.  Stress  consists  in  raising  the  voice 
above  the  average  key,  —  hitting  a  word,  as  it  were,  —  and 
thereby  calling  special  attention  to  the  word  so  stressed  or 
emphasized.  After  the  pitch  is  raised  for  such  stress,  the 
voice  swings  back  to  or  below  the  average  key. 

The  student  should  note  this  mechanical  movement  of  the 
voice  when  stress  is  applied  to  a  word,  and  acquire  the 
power  of  applying  it  at  will.  This  done,  he  will  have 
learned  that  the  prime  essential  of  emphasis  is  not  noise, 
not  mere  loudness,  but  a  significant  stress  of  the  voice. 
Suppose  you  wish  to  express  the  contrast  between  "Capital" 
and  "  Force  "  in  the  following  sentence,  —  "  The  feudalism 
of  Capital  is  not  a  whit  less  formidable  than  the  feudalism 
of  Force."  It  will  be  noted  that  in  emphasizing  Capital  the 
voice  rises  on  the  first  syllable,  then,  as  a  result  of  the 
application  of  this  stress,  it  swings  back  to  and  below 
the  average  key,  and  then,  since  the  thought  is  incomplete, 
it  rises  again  on  the  last  syllable,  and  the  vocalization  ends 
with  the  voice  again  above  the  key.  The  following  may 
represent,  roughly,  the  movement  of  the  voice  in  this  in- 
stance:— 


"Force"   on  the  other  hand,  completes   the   statement, 
hence  the  voice  falls  at  the  close:  — 


In  the  synthesis  of  delivery,  no  'one  element  of  expression, 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  is  used  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
elements.  The  stress  method  of  emphasizing  is  identical 
with  certain  inflectional  forms,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  follow- 


48  PUBLIC   8PEAKIW;. 

ing  chapter.  In  the  diagrams  on  page  47,  attention  has  been 
especially  called  to  the  mechanical  movement  of  the  voice 
in  applying  stress,  since  its  acquisition  is  necessary  for  that 
flexibility  which  is  a  mark  of  the  conversational,  or  natural, 
style  of  speaking.  Failure  to  apply  stress  results  in  a 
monotone,  and  stress  applied  at  random  defeats  the  intended 
meaning,  and  results  in  a  "  sing-song'7  delivery.  It  is,  there- 
fore, of  practical  importance  to  know  how  to  emphasize,  and 
so  train  the  voice  to  express  the  mental  concept.  To  this 
••ml.  practice  placing  a  vocal  stress  on  the  italicized  words 
in  the  following  examples :  — 

(«)   \f  i-t  >•>•////  is  the  mot  her  of  invention. 

(h)  Wh»Mv\vr  you  meet  a  dozen  earnest  men  pledged  to  a  new 
idea,  you  meet  the  beginning  of  a  new  revolution. 

(c)  The  development  of  Americanism  was  the  predominant  fact 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

(d)  Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
and  have  not  charily,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling 
cymbal. 

(e)  The  story  of  Major  Andre  is  the  one  overmastering  romance 
of  the  Revolution. 

(/)  A  life  of  ignoble  ease  is  as  little  worthy  of  a  nation  as  of 
an  individual. 

(#)   A  wise  man  seeks  to  shine  in  himself;  afoot,  in  others. 

(h)  Americans  may  be  friends  of  the  English,  but  subjects,  never. 

(i )   He  who  would  speak  well,  must  acquire  command  of  himself. 

Importance  of  Emphasis.  —  It  will  be  seen  that  emphasis  is 
a  ryost  important  element  of  expression.  If  you  take  the 
question,  Do  you  ride  to  town  to-day  ?  emphasizing  by  turn 
each  word,  as  many  different  meanings  will  be  expressed  as 
there  are  words  in  the  sentence.  An  example  frequently 
given  of  the  effect  of  misplaced  emphasis  is  that  of  a  young 
preacher  who,  on  the  theory  that  all  italicized  words  in  the 
Bible  were  to  be  emphasized,  so  read  the  following  passage 


EMPHASIS.  49 

in  1  Kings,  xiii.  27,  "And  he  spake   to  his  sons,  saying, 
*  Saddle  me  the  ass,'  and  they  saddled  him" 

Misplaced  emphasis  is  the  most  fruitful  source  of  the 
sing-song  tone,  which  comes  from  the  stress  being  applied 
at  regular  intervals.  This  is  especially  noticeable  in  the 
reading  of  poetry,  but  is  not  uncommon  in  the  render- 
ing of  prose.  The  paramount  rule  to  be  observed  in  em- 
phasis is,  Read  or  speak  as  you  would  talk.  Unfortunately, 
this  rule  is  not  always,  or  even  generally,  observed.  For 
the  purpose  of  correcting  common  faults,  some  further  rules, 
with  examples,  are  given  below.  It  will  be  found  that  these 
rules  are  largely  the  reflex,  just  as  emphasis  itself  is,  of 
the  thought-analysis  as  set  forth  in  Chapter  I. 


Rules  of  Emphasis. 

1.  The  key-ivord  or  words  of  a  sentence  shoidd  be  discovered  N 
and  emphasized.  To  state  the  rule  in  another  way  :  Analyze 
the  sentence  to  find  the  word  or  words  that  carry  the  prin- 
cipal idea,  or  that  express  a  new  idea,  and  then  give  vocal 
expression  to  the  results  of  such  analysis.  To  determine 
the  most  important  word  or  words  in  a  sentence,  three  tests 
may  be  applied :  Is  it  (1)  a  word  that  is  indispensable  to  the 
thought  ?  (2)  a  word  that  a  person  must  hear  to  tell  what 
you  are  talking  about?  (3)  a  word  that  can,  by  rearrange- 
ment, be  made  the  climax  of  the  sentence  ? 

Illustrative  examples  of  this  rule  are  given  below.  In 
the  examples  given  under  the  various  headings  of  this 
book,  it  should  be  understood  that  all  the  shades  or 
degrees  of  emphasis,  or  of  other  elements  of  expression, 
are  not  indicated,  nor  can  they  be  indicated,  on  the  printed 
page ;  that  the  marking  of  examples  is  intended  to  be  sug- 
gestive merely,  to  aid  in  calling  attention  to  one  principle 
at  a  time,  and  to  refer  only  to  the  particular  rule  or  principle 


50  PUBLIC  SPEAKIXG. 

then  under  consideration.  In  the  examples  below,  key 
words  are  suggested  by  the  italicizing.  Different  results, 
however,  may  be  obtained  by  the  individual  student,  since 
analyses  may  differ.  But  the  point  is,  have  some  reason  for 
emphasizing  a  given  word,  else  do  not  emphasize  it ;  and 
when  you  have  a  reason  for  emphasizing  it,  emphasize  it 

—  know  that  your  voice  is  obeying  your  mind. 

Examples. 

(a)  Time  has  a  dooms-day  book,  upon  whose  pages  he  is  continually 
recording  illustrious  names.  But  as  often  as  a  new  name  is  writ- 
ten there,  an  old  one  disappears.  Only  a  few  stand  in  illnminnted 
characters  never  to  be  effaced.  These  are  the  high  nobility  of  nature 

—  lords  of  the  public  domain  of  thought.     Posterity  shall  never 
question  their  titles.     But  those  whose  fame  lives  only  on  the  /W /'.>•- 
creel  opinion  of  unwise  men  must  soon  be  as  well  forgotten  as  if  they 
had  never  been.     To  this  great  oblivion  must  most  men  come. — 
LONGFELLOW. 

(£>)  There  is  a  time  in  every  man's  experience  when  he  arrives  at 
the  conclusion  that  envy  is  ignorance  ;  that  imitation  is  suicide  ;  that 
he  must  take  himself,  for  better  or  for  worse,  as  his  portion:  that, 
though  the  wide  universe  is  full  of  good,  no  kernel  of  nourishing 
corn  can  come  to  him  but  through  his  toil  bestowed  upon  that  plot 
of  ground  that  is  given  him  to  till.  The  power  that  resides  in  him 
is  new  in  nature,  and  none  but  he  knows  what  that  is  which  he  can 
do,  nor  does  he  know  until  he  has  tried.  Therefore,  my  text  is, 
Trust  thyself.  Is  it  not  an  iron  string  to  which  vibrates  every 
heart?  —  EMERSON. 

(c)  Centuries  ago,  on  the  rock-bound  coast  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  one  night  there  was  a  wedding.  The  sky  was  the  roof  that 
covered  the  high  contracting  parties,  and  the  stars,  painted  by  the 
finger  of  God,  were  the  fresco-work ;  the  music  was  that  of  the 
singing  night-bird  and  the  surge  of  the  gray  old  ocean ;  the  biddf-n 
guests  were  the  Puritan  fathers  and  the  Puritan  mothers ;  the  un- 
bidden guests  were  the  dusky  savages  :  the  bride  and  the  bridegroom 
were  the  meeting-house  and  the  schoolhouse,  and  from  that  marriage 


EMPHASIS.  51 

there  was  born  a  child.     They  christened  it  New  England  Civiliza- 
tion. —  FRYE. 

2.  Subordinate  the  modifying  or  qualifying  words,  phrases 
or  clauses.     Keep  the  incidental  or  relatively  unimportant 
matter  in  the  background,  and  so  put  the  leading  ideas  in 
the  foreground.     This   subordination   is   accomplished   by 
using  less   force,  and   usually   a  lower  key,   in  delivery. 
Grady,  for  example,  in  his  famous  New  England  Society 
speech,  after  describing  the  return  of  the  Confederate  sol- 
dier at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  says,  "  What  does  he  do, 
this  hero  in  gray  with  a  heart  of  gold  ?  "     The  verb  do  ex- 
presses the  new  idea,  and  the  added  clause,  being  a  repetition, 
should  be  subordinated  in  speaking.    This  is  done  by  making 
it  a  continuation  of  the  fall  of  the  voice  which  follows  the 
stress  applied  to  "do." 

For  further  examples  in  subordination,  see  Chapter  XIII,  p.  195, 
"  The  New  South,"  second  paragraph ;  and  p.  169,  "  The  Triumph 
of  Truth,"  fourth  paragraph. 

3.  Ideas  compared  or  contrasted  should  be    emphasized. 
The  thought  expression  is  essentially  one  of  comparison. 
As  will  be  seen  in   the   examples   below,  comparisons  or 
contrasts   may  be  expressed  or  implied;    and  there  may 
be  double  or  triple  antithesis. 

Examples. 

(a)    A  sin  may  be  a  sin  of  omission  or  a  sin  of  commission. 
(6)    It  is  not  true  that  he  played  the  traitor  in  the  hour  of  his 
country's  trial. 

(c)  To  flow  with  the  current  is  easy ;  a  chip  can  do  that,  but  a 
man  ought  to  be  able  to  stem  the  tide  when  necessary. 

(d)  Public  sentiment  is  beginning  to  measure  a  man  not  so 
much  by  his  culture  as  by  what  he  can  do  with  his  culture.     It 


52  PUBLIC    ^I'EAKING. 

demands  efficiency  as  \\vll  as  scholastic  acquirements,  claiming  that 
a  learnt  if  fool  is  no  better  than  an  if/nni-unt  rspert. 

(<?)    I  could  not  love  thee.,  dear,  an  much, 
Loved  I  not  honor  more. 

(/)  The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what  ice  say 
here ;  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here. 

(</)    He  raised  a  mortal  to  the  skies ; 
She  drew  an  angel  down. 

(h)  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face  ; 
now  I  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  know  even  an  I  tun  kntum. 

4.  Words  once  emphasized  should  not  be  emphasized  again 
unless  repeated  for  the  purpose  of  emphasis.     That  is,  distin- 
guish between  an  echo  of  the  thought  and  the  reenforcement 
of  some  leading  idea. 

For  examples,  see  Chapter  XIII,  p.  l*o.  M  <  J«-ttysburg  Address," 
thM  and  second  paragraphs;  p.  169,  "The  Triumph  of  Truth," 
fifth  paragraph ;  p.  203,  "  Revolutions,"  first  paragraph. 

5.  In  a  repetition  of  words,  phrases,  or  clauses,  in  similar 
<•<  instruction,  seek  variety  in  emphasis.     In  emphasis,  as  in 
other  elements  of  expression,  variety  is  the  spice  of  good 

delivery. 

Examples. 

(a)  In  one  of  the  fierce  western  battles  among  the  mountains, 
General  Thomas  was  watching  a  body  of  his  troops  painfully  push- 
ing their  way  up  a  steep  hill  against  a  withering  fire.  Victory 
seemed  impossible,  and  the  general  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  Tli<-y 
can't  do  it !  they  will  never  reach  the  top."  His  chief  of  staff, 
watching  the  battle  with  equal  earnestness,  placing  his  hand  upon 
his  commander's  arm,  said,  softly,  "  Time,  time,  general ;  give  them 
time;"  and  presently  the  moist  eyes  of  the  brave  leader  saw  his 
troops  victorious  upon  the  summit. 

They  wrere  American  aoldiers.  So  are  we.  They  were  fighting 
an  American  battle.  So  are  we.  They  were  climbing  up  a  moun- 
tain. So  are  we.  The  great  heart  of  their  leader  gave  th en i  time. 


EMPHASIS.  53 

and  tli»'v  mtK/Hp.reft.     The  great  heart  of  our  country  will  give  us 
time,  and  we  shall  triumph.  —  CURTIS. 

(b)  I  have  seen  the  gleam  from  the  headlight  of  some  giant 
engine  rushing  onward  through  the  darkness,  heedless  of  opposi- 
tion, fearless  of  danger ;  and  I  thought  it  was  grand.  I  have  seen 
the  light  come  over  the  eastern  hills  in  glory,  driving  the  lazy 
darkness  before  it,  till  leaf  and  tree  and  blade  of  grass  glittered  in 
the  myriad  diamonds  of  the  morning  ray;  and  1  thought  that  was 
-rand.  I  have  seen  the  light  that  leaped  at  midnight  athwart 
the  storm-swept  sky,  shivering  over  chaotic  clouds,  'mid  howling 
winds,  till  cloud  and  darkness  and  shadow-haunted  earth  flashed 
into  midday  splendor ;  and  I  knew  that  was  grand.  But  the  grand- 
est thing,  next  to  the  radiance  that  flows  from  the  Almighty 
Throne,  is  the  light  of  a  noble  and  beautiful  life,  wrapping  itself 
in  benediction  round  the  destinies  of  men,  and  finding  its  home  in 
the  bosom  of  the  everlasting  God.  —  GRAVES. 

6.  Distinguish  between  emphasis  of  a  single  word  and  that 
which  should  be  distributed  to  the  whole  of  a  phrase  or  clause. 
Throwing  the  entire  emphasis  on  one  of  two  adjectives,  or 
on  the  adjective  rather  than  on  the  noun,  is  a  common  fault. 

Examples. 

(The  italicizing  suggests  only  those  places  where  an  ap- 
proximately equal  distribution  of  emphasis  should  be  given.) 

(a)  The  American  Republic  must  live.  Popular  commotion  and 
/mrtisfin  fnnj  may  dash  their  mad  wars  against  it,  but  they  shall 
roll  back  shattered,  spent.  Persecution  shall  not  shake  it,  fanaticism 
disturb  it,  nor  revolutions  change  it.  But  it  shall  stand  towering 
sublime,  like  the  last  mountain  in  the  deluge,  while  the  earth  rocks 
nt  its  feet  and  thunders  peal  above  its  head  —  majestic,  immutable,  mag- 
nificent. .  .  . 

Despair  not,.then,  soldier,  statesman,  citizen.  We  shall  yet  dwell 
together  in  harmony,  and  but  one  nation  shall  inhabit  our  sea-girt 
borders.  Liberty  and  union  shall  spread  a  civilization  from  the 
Occident  to  the  Orient,  from  the  flotvery  shores  of  the  great  Southern 
gulf  to  the  frozen  bairiers  of  the  great  Northern  bay ;  a  civilization 


54  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

that  means   universal  freedom,  universal  enfranchisement, 
brotherhood  ! —  PHILLIPS. 

(b)  Our  fathers  raised  their  Jlag  against  a  power  to  which  Rome, 
in  the  height  of  her  glory,  is  not  to  be  compared ;  a  power  that  has 
dotted  over  the  surface  of  the  whole  globe  with  her  pofsfssinna  ami 
military  posts;  whose  morning  drumbeat,  following  the  sun  and 
keeping  company  with  the  hours,  circles  the  earth  with  one  con- 
tinuous and  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial  airs  of  England. — 
WEBSTER. 

Common  Faults  of  Emphasis. 

v  1.  Lack  of  Emphasis.  The  result  is  a  dead  monotone, 
effective  for  lulling  one  to  sleep,  but  ineffective  for  a  wake- 
ful audience. 

"  That  voice  all  modes  of  passion  can  express 
Which  marks  the  proper  word  with  proper  stress ; 
But  none  emphatic  can  that  speaker  call 
Who  lays  an  equal  emphasis  on  all." 

2.  Emphasizing  too  much.  This  fault,  not  so  common 
as  the  preceding,  is  a  violation  of  all  the  preceding  rules, 
for  if  everything  is  emphasized,  no  contrasts  are  expressed, 
and  hence  no  emphasis.  "  Where  all  are  generals,  there  can 
be  no  privates."  Emphasis  serves  the  same  purpose  as  the 
central  figure  of  a  picture.  It  puts  the  leading  idea  in  the 
foreground.  So  do  not  crowd  the  foreground,  or  violate 
the  laws  of  perspective.  A  good  general  rule  is,  Put  special 
emphasis  On  only  a  few  words.  Professor  Hiram  Corson, 
himself  an  effective  reader,  gives  the  following  somewhat 
extreme  statement,  perhaps,  of  this  rule:  "There  should 
never  be  in  reading  a  non-significant  departure  from  a  pure 
monotony.  .  .  .  Great  effects  can  be  secured  through  very 
simple  means  by  a  reader  who  strictly  observes  this  prin- 
ciple. Every  little  bend  of  the  voice  tells.  But  a  wriggling 
voice,  the  general  tenor  of  which  is  a  violation  of  this  prin- 


EMPHASIS.  55 

ciple,  cannot  secure  such  effects.  The  hearer  is  presented 
with  a  jumble  of  non-significant  and  would-be  significant 
intervals,  which  is  less  effective  than  a  pure  monotony  would 
be."  l 

3.  Emphasizing  at  random.  This  is  perhaps  the  most 
common  fault.  It  appears  where  emphasis  is  placed  at 
regular  intervals,  as  in  reading  poetry,  or  on  unimportant 
words,  —  prepositions  and  connectives.  In  rendering  poetry, 
emphasize  as  though  it  were  prose ;  the  rhythm  will  take 
care  of  itself.  Regularly  recurring  emphasis  we  hear  par- 
ticularly from  the  pulpit,  so  we  speak  of  a  certain  type  of 
delivery  as  a  "  ministerial  tone."  Many  preachers  read 
Scripture  in  violation  of  every  principle  of  proper  emphasis, 
and  sing  all  hymns,  in  reading,  to  a  single  tune.  This  same 
fault  of  random  emphasis  characterizes  all  mere  declaiming 
or  haranguing.  Plutarch  relates  that  Julius  Caesar,  while 
yet  a  youth,  hearing  some  person  read  in  a  canting  tone, 
said:  "  Are  you  reading  or  singing?  If  you  sing,  you  sing 
badly;  if  you  read,  you  nevertheless  sing." 


Selections  for  Practice, 
(a)   AMERICA. 

My  country,  'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee  I  sing; 
Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  Pilgrim's  pride, 
From  ev'ry  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring. 

The  Voice  and  Spiritual  Education,  p.  78. 


56  PUBLIC    -I'I-:.\h'ING. 

My  native  country,  thee, 
Land  of  the  noble,  free, 

Thy  name  I  love ; 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills, 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills 

Like  that  above. 

Let  music  swell  the  breeze, 
And  ring  from  all  the  trees 

Sweet  freedom's  song ; 
Let  mortal  tongues  awake, 
Let  all  that  breathe  partake, 
Let  rocks  their  silence  break, 

The  sound  prolong. 

Our  fathers'  God,  to  Thee, 
Author  of  Liberty, 

To  Thee  we  sing ; 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light, 
Protect  us  by  thy  might, 

Great  God,  our  King. 

(6)   RECESSIONAL. 

God  of  our  fathers,  known  of  old  — 
Lord  of  our  far-flung  battle  line  — 
Beneath  whose  awful  Hand  we  hold 
Dominion  over  palm  and  pine ; 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget. 


EMPHASIS.  57 

The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies, 
The  captains  and  the  kings  depart — 
Still  stands  Thine  ancient  sacrifice, 
An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart. 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget. 

Far-called  our  navies  melt  away — 
On  dune  and  headland  sinks  the  fire — 
Lo,  all  our  pomp  of  yesterday 
Is  one  with  Nineveh  and  Tyre ! 
Judge  of  the  nations,  spare  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget. 

If,  drunk  with  sight  of  power,  we  loose 
Wild  tongues  that  have  not  Thee  in  awe — 
Such  boastings  as  the  Gentiles  use, 
Or  lesser  breeds  without  the  Law — 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget! 

For  heathen  heart  that  puts  her  trust 
In  reeking  tube  and  iron  shard — 
All  valiant  dust  that  builds  on  dust, 
And  guarding  calls  not  Thee  to  guard, 
For  frantic  boast  and  foolish  word, 
Thy  Mercy  on  Thy  People,  Lord! 

Besides  the  primary  emphasis,  which  we  have  largely 
been  considering,  there  is  a  secondary  emphasis  that  brings 
out  the  lighter  touches  and  more  delicate  shadings  of  the 
word-picture.  Into  this  our  exposition  cannot  profitably  go. 


58  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

It  is  not  maintained  that  a  mastery  of  the  foregoing 
rules,  and  the  avoidance  of  the  faults  mentioned,  will  give 
a  mastery  of  the  art  of  emphasis.  These  rules  and  cautions 
are  intended  to  call  the  student's  attention  to  some  basic 
principles,  and  the  examples  are  to  afford  practice  in  train- 
ing the  voice  to  obey  the  will.  That  attained,  the  mind 
must  do  the  rest. 

SUMMARY. 

Emphasis  should  express  the  relative  importance  of  ideas,  This 
is  accomplished,  vocally,  by  pause,  time,  and  stress ;  but  the  basis 
of  clear  and  expressive  emphasis  is  always  clear  and  vigorous 
thinkingi 


CHAPTER    VI. 

INFLECTION, 

Definition  and  Classification.  —  Inflection  denotes  the  bend 
or  wave  of  the  voice  above  or  below  the  average  key.  Its 
uses  are  to  aid  in  emphasizing,  to  express  relationships 
between  the  ideas  in  a  discourse,  and,  in  general,  to  give 
variety  to  speech.  The  inflections  of  a  well-modulated  voice 
—  the  variations  from  the  dominant  key-note  —  are  infinite 
in  number,  but  the  principal  movements,  with  the  method 
of  indicating  each,  are  as  follows:  The  Falling  Inflection 
(^),  the  Rising  Inflection  (^),  the  Falling  Circumflex  (^), 
the  Rising  Circumflex  (^),  the  Double  Falling  Circumflex 
(^"^),  the  Double  Rising  Circumflex  (^),  the  Falling 
Slide  (\),  and  the  Rising  Slide  (^). 

The  Falling  and  Rising  Inflections :  General  Law.  —  What  is 
commonly  known  as  inflection  is  the  downward  or  upward 
bend  of  the  voice  on  a  single  word  or  syllable  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  pauses  in  speech.  This  bend  of  the 
voice  expresses  the  relationship  between  the  ideas  immedi- 
ately preceding  and  following  such  pause.  When  the  voice 
bends  downward  from  the  key,  it  is  known  as  the  falling 
inflection,  and  indicates  that  the  thought  is  complete  at  that 
point ;  when  the  voice  bends  upward,  it  is  called  the  rising 
inflection,  and  indicates  that  something  more  is  needed  to 
complete  the  thought.  Hence  the  General  Law  that  deter- 
mines inflection  is  as  follows:  When  the  thought  is  complete,  the 
voice  falls;  tvhen  the  thought  is  incomplete,  the  voice  rises.  That 

59 


60  PUBLIC    SPEAKING. 

is,  the  completeness  or  incompleteness  of  the  thought,  not 
the  form  of  the  sentence  or  the  punctuation,  determines  the 
inflection.  Nothing  could  be  more  misleading  than  to  sup- 
pose that  the  voice  always  rises  at  the  comma  and  always 
falls  at  the  period.  A  sentence  may  be  grammatically  com- 
plete but  incomplete  in  thought.  Therefore  discard  any 
idea  of  inflecting  according  to  the  punctuation  marks. 

The  Falling  Inflection.  —  The  falling  inflection  denotes 
affirmation,  determination,  positiveness,  assertion,  —  com- 
pleteness. Completeness  includes  (1)  Finality  and  (2) 
Momentary  Completeness. 

•'  1.  Finality.  —  By  finality  is  meant  the  conclusion  of  the 
thought.  For  the  purpose  of  completing  some  idea,  or  of 
laying  down  that  which  is  finished,  the  voice  falls. 

Examples. 

(a)  Service  is  the  law  of  life.  It  is  a  splendid  thing  to  be  able 
to  live  this  life  of  service.  —  ABBOTT. 

(&)  The  modern  student  knows  that  a  well-developed  body  and 
a  well-developed  mind  are  necessary  partners  for  intellectual  and 
material  triumphs.  —  DEPKW. 

(c)  I  expect  to  pass  through  this  life  but  once.  If  there  is  any 
kindness  or  any  good  thing  I  can  do  to  my  fellow-beings,  let  me  do 
it  now.  I  shall  pass  this  way  but  once.  —  W 1 1  1 1  A  M  1  Y.NN. 

2.  Momentary  Completeness.  —  Momentary  completeness 
of  the  thought  may  arise,  first,  from  its  logical  importance, 
requiring  a  strong  affirmative  emphasis. 

Examples. 

(a)  Then  shall  the  kingdom  be  likened  unto  ten  virgins,  which 
took  their  lamps,  and  went  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom. 

(6)  Ephesus  was  upside  down.  The  manufacturers  of  silver 
boxes  for  holding  heathen  images  had  collected  their  laborers 


INFLECTION.  61 

together  to  discuss  the  behavior  of  one  Paul,  who  had  been  in 
public  places  assaulting  image  worship,  and  consequently  very 
much  damaging  their  business.  —  TALMAGE. 

(c)  True  eloquence  does  not  consist  in  speech.  Words  and 
phrases  may  be  marshalled  in  every  way,  but  they  cannot  compass 
it.  It  comes,  if  it  comes  at  all,  like  the  outbreak  of  a  fountain 
from  the  earth,  or  the  bursting  forth  of  volcanic  fires,  with  spon- 
taneous, original,  native  force.  —  WEBSTER. 

(</)  I  am  one  among  the  thousands  who  loved  Henry  Grady, 
and  J  stand  among  the  millions  who  lament  his  death.  I  loved 
him  in  the  promise  of  his  glowing  youth,  when  across  my  boyish 
vision  he  walked  with  winning  grace  from  easy  effort  to  success. 
I  loved  him  in  the  flush  of  his  splendid  manhood,  when  a  nation 
hung  upon  his  words,  —  and  now  I  love  him  best  of  all  as  he  lies 
under  the  December  skies,  with  face  as  tranquil  and  with  smile  as 
sweet  as  patrial  ever  wore. 

I  agree  with  Patrick  Collins,  that  Henry  Grady  was  the  most 
brilliant  son  of  the  Republic ;  and  I  believe,  if  the  annals  of  these 
times  are  told  with  truth,  they  will  record  him  the  phenomenon 
of  his  period.  No  eloquence  has  equalled  his  since  Sargent  Prentiss 
faded  from  the  earth.  No  pen  has  ploughed  such  noble  furrows 
in  his  country's  fallow  fields  since  the  wrist  of  Horace  Greeley 
rested.  No  age  of  the  Republic  has  witnessed  such  marvelous 
conjunction  of  a  magic  pen  with  the  splendor  of  a  mellow  tongue. 
—  GRAVES. 

The  falling  inflection  at  pauses  of  momentary  complete- 
ness, as  indicated  in  the  foregoing  examples,  gives  the  com 
bined  effect  of  emphasis  and  positiveness.  Used  with 
discretion,  it  is  very  effective.  Used  to  excess,  the  delivery 
becomes  heavy  and  monotonous,  and  sacrifices  the  on-move- 
nient  of  the  thought.  In  a  series  of  words  or  expressions, 
equally  emphatic  in  theory,  it  is  often  better  to  defer  the 
emphasis  —  and  hence  the  falling  inflection  —  until  the  last. 


62  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

Examples. 

(a)  Propert^Tcharacter,  reputation,  everything  was  sacrificed. 

(b)  Charity  beareth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things. 

Again,  momentary  completeness  may  arise  from  an  elliptical 
construction.  In  such  cases  the  thought  requires  that  the 
reader  or  speaker  mentally  supply  the  words  that  would 
expand  the  clause  wherein  the  ellipsis  is  found,  into  a  com- 
plete proposition.  This  is  .done  in  the  following  example 
by  placing  in  brackets  the  words  to  be  understood  in  the 

rendering. 

Example. 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon 
this  continent  a  new  nation,  [This  new  nation  was]  conceived  in 
liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal.  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  [We  are  now] 
testing  whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  s«> 
dedicated,  can  long  endure. 

The  Rising  Inflection.  —  Incompleteness  of  thought  arises 
in  a  variety  of  forms,  among  which  we  may  note  (1)  Doubt 
or  Concession,  (2)  Appeal  or  Obviousness,  and  (3)  Negation. 

1.  Doubt  or  Concession  require*  the  Rising  Inflection.     In 
cases  of  doubt  or  concession,  the  sense  is  usually  imperfect, 

—  something  needs    to   follow,   expressed    or  implied,   to 
complete  the  thought. 

Examples. 

(a)  He  may  be  an  nonest  man  ;  he  says  he  is. 

(b)  I  grant  you  that  this  is  the  true  standard  of  statesmanship. 
Now  the  question  is,  did  Mr.  Webster  measure  up  to  that  standard  V 

2.  Appeal  or  Obviousness  requires  the  Rising   Inflection. 
That  is,  where  the  speaker  impliedly  says,  "  Is  not  this 
true  ?  "  or  "  You  will  not  question  this,  will  you  ?  " 


INFLECTION.  63 

Examples. 

(«)  One  must  build  to  the  praise  of  a  being  above,  to  build  the 
noblest  memorial  of  himself. 

(6)  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  rich  in  order  to  be  happy.  .  .  .  We 
have  a  false  standard  of  these  things  in  the  United  States.  We 
think  that  a  man  must  be  great,  that  he  must  be  famous,  that  he 
must  be  wealthy.  That  is  all  a  mistake.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
be  rich,  to  be  great,  to  be  famous,  to  be  powerful,  in  order  to  be 
happy.  The  happy  man  is  the  free  man. 

3.  Negation  frequently  denotes  incompleteness,  especially 
when  followed  by  an  affirmation.  When  a  statement  is 
made  in  the  negative,  —  if  we  say  a  thing  is  not  so  and 
so,  —  unless  the  negation  is  itself  assertive  or  positive,  the 
implication  usually  is  that  something  is  to  follow  by  way  of 
affirmation,  —  that  it  is  so  and  so,  —  and  the  thought  is 
incomplete  until  such  affirmation. 

Examples. 

(a)  I  come  not  here  armed  at  all  points  with  law  cases  and  Acts 
of  Parliament,  with  the  statute-book  doubled  down  in  dog's  ears, 
to  defend  the  cause  of  liberty.     I  would  not  debate  a  point  of  law 
with  the  gentleman !     I  know  his  abilities.  —  CHATHAM. 

(b)  It  was  not  his  olive  valleys  and  orange  groves  which  made 
the  Greece  of  the  Greekt  it  was  not  for  his  apple  orchards  or  potato 
fields  that  the  farmer  of  Xew  England  and  New  York  left  his  plough 
in  the  furrow  and  marched  to  Bunker  Hill,  to  Bennington,  to  Sara- 
toga.    A  man's  country  is  not  a  certain  area  of  land,  but  it  is  a 
principle;  and  patriotism  is  loyalty  to  that  principle.  —  CURTIS. 

(c)  The  proposition  is  peace.     Not  peace  through  the  medium 
of  war";  not  peace  to  be  hunted  through  the  labyrinth  of  intricate 
and  endless  negotiations ;  not  peace  to  arise  out  of  universal  dis- 
cord, fomented  from  principle  in  all  parts  of  the  empire ;  not  peace 
to  depend  on  the  juridical  determination  of  perplexing  questions, 


64  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

or  the  precise  marking  of  the  shadowy  boundaries  of  a  complex 
government ;  it  is  simple  peace ;  sought  in  its  natural  course ;  and 
in  its  ordinary  haunts.  —  BURKE. 

(rf)  What  constitutes  a  state  ? 

Not  high-raised  battlements  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate ; 
Not  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned ; 

Not  bays  and  broad-arm  ports, 
Where  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride ; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No  :  —  men  —  high-minded  men  — 
With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued 

In  forest  brake  and  den, 
As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude ; 

Men  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights,  and  knowing,  dare  maintain, 

Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain ; 

These  constitute  a  state.  —  SIR  WILLIAM  JONES. 

Further  Applications  of  the  General  Law  of  Inflection. 

1.  A  loose  sentence  is  usually  delivered  with  the  Falling 
Inflection  at  intermediate  pauses,  except  the  clause  preceding 
the  last,  when  the  Rising  Inflection  is  used.  The  reason  for 
this  general  rule  is,  that  by  using  the  rising  inflection  on 
next  to  the  last  clause,  the  effect  is  to  connect  all  the  pre- 
ceding clauses  with  the  very  close.  The  demands  of  emphasis 
may  of  course  vary  this  general  rule. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  falling  inflection  used  at 
the  pauses  in  the  following  examples  is  a  partial  fall  only, 
as  distinguished  from  the  complete  fall  that  denotes  the 
conclusion  of  thought.  That  is,  there  are  degrees  of  inflec- 


INFLECTION.  65 

tion  that  will  represent  the  various  degrees  of  relationship 
between  ideas.  It  would  be  impossible,  as  well  as  unde- 
sirable, to  give  an  exposition  of  these  various  degrees  on  the 
printed  page.  Here  again  the  speaker's  mind  must  be  the 

guide. 

Examples. 

(a)  Today  men  point  to  Marengo  in  wonderment.  They  laud 
the  power  and  foresight  that  so  skilfully  planned  the  battle,  but 
they  forget  that  Napoleon  failed ;  they  forget  that  he  was  defeated ; 
they  forget  that  a  general  only  thirty  years  old  made  a  victory 
of  the  great  conqueror's  defeat,  and  that  a  gamin  of  Paris  put  to 
shame  the  Child  of  Destiny. 

(6)  It  should  be  the  labor  of  a  genuine  and  noble  patriotism  to 
raise  the  life  of  a  nation  to  the  level  of  its  privileges ;  to  harmonize 
its  general  practice  with  its  abstract  principles ;  to  reduce  to  actual 
facts  the  ideals  of  its  institutions  ;  to  elevate  instruction  into 
knowledge;  and  to  deepen  knowledge  into  wisdom. 

(c)  So  long  as  men  touch  the  ground  and  feel  their  own  weight, 
so  long  they  need  the  aptitudes  and  the  instrumentalities  of  the 
human  body;  and  one  of  the  very  first  steps  in  oratory  is  that 
which  trains  the  body  to  be  the  welcome  and  glad  servant  of  the 
soul ;  for  many  a  one  who  has  acres  of  thought  has  little  bodily 
culture,  and  many  a  one  who  has  sweetening  inside  has  cacophony 
when  he  speaks. 

2.  In  aperiodic  sentence,  the  Rising  Inflection  should  usually 
be  given  at  the  intermediate  pauses.  The  construction  of  a 
periodic  sentence  is  especially  adapted  to  oratorical  dis- 
course, its  leading  idea,  the  climax,  being  reserved  till  the 
close.  The  thought  is  onlooking,  and  the  rising  inflection 
aids  the  thought-movement  onward  to  the  climax.  In  a  very 
long  sentence,  the  demands  of  variety  may  necessitate  a 
change  from  the  general  rule,  for  when  variety  demands  it, 
any  general  rule  should  be  broken. 


66  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

Examples. 

(a)  Now  we  see  the  superstructure  —  pillar  after  pillar,  tower 
after  tower,  column  after  column.  .  .  .  Scaffolding,  ropes,  ladders, 
workmen  ascending  and  descending,  mar  the  beauty  of  the  build- 
ing, but  by  and  by,  when  the  hosts  who  have  labored  shall  come  up 
over  a  thousand  battle-fields,  waving  with  bright  grain  never  again 
to  be  crushed  in  the  distillery,  through  vineyards,  under  trellised 
vines  with  grapes  hanging  in  all  their  purple  glory,  never  again  to 
be  pressed  into  that  which  can  debase  and  degrade  mankind;  when 
they  shall  come  through  the  orchards,  under  trees  hanging  thick 
with  golden,  pulpy  fruit,  never  again  to  be  turned  into  that  which 
can  injure  and  debase,  when  they  shall  come  up  to  the  last  distil- 
lery and  destroy  it,  to  the  last  stream  of  liquid  death  and  dry  it  up, 
to  the  last  weeping  wife  and  wipe  her  tears  gently  away,  to  the  last 
little  child  and  stand  him  up  where  God  meant  that  man  should 
stand,  to  the  last  drunkard  and  nerve  him  to  burst  the  burning 
fetters,  and  raise  the  song  of  freedom  by  the  clanking  of  his  broken 
chains,  then,  ah  !  then  will  the  copestone  be  put  upon  it,  the  scaf- 
folding will  fall  with  a  crash,  and  the  building  will  stand  in  its 
wondrous  beauty  before  an  astonished  world^and  the  last  poor 
drunkard  shall  go  into  it  and  find  a  refuge  there. — JOHN  B. 
GOUGH. 

(ft)          When  round  the  lonely  cottage 

Roars  loud  the  tempest's  din  ; 
And  the  good  logs  of  Algidus 

Roar  louder  yet  with  in  7 
When  the  oldest  cask  is  opened, 

And  the  largest  lamp  is  lit ; 
When  the  chestnuts  glow  in  the  embers, 

And  the  kid  turns  on  the  spit ; 
When  young  and  old  in  circle 

Around  the  firebrands  close ; 


INFLECTION.  67 

And  the  girls  are  weaving  baskets, 

And  the  boys  are  shaping  bows ; 
When  the  goodman  mends  his  armor, 

And  trims  his  helmet's  plume; 
When  the  goodwife's  shuttle  merrily 

Goes  flashing  through  the  loom  ; 
With  weeping  and  with  laughter, 

Still  is  the  story  toldT 
How  well  Horatius  kept  the  bridge 

In  the  brave  days  of  old.  —  MACAULAY. 

.3.    In  alternative  and  antithetical  expressions,  the  first  part      I 
usually  takes  the  Rising,  the  secoml  jmrt  the  Falling,  Inflection. 

Examples. 

(a)  Is  it  a  dog^or  is  it  a  rug  ? 

(b)  Must  we  use  force,  or  can  we  use  argument? 

(c)  For  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels 
nor  principalities  nor  powers,  nor  things  present  nor  things  to 
come,  nor  height  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  our 
Lord.  —  ROMANS  viii.  38,  39. 

(</)  It  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruptioti ;  it  is 
sou  ii  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory;  it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it 
is  raised  in  power ;  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual 
body.  —  I  CORINTHIANS  xv.  42-44. 

(e)  Contrast  now  the  circumstances  of  your  life  and  mine, 
TEschines,  and  then  ask  these  people  whose  fortunes  they  would 
each  of  them  prefer.  You  taught  reading,  I  went  to  school ;  you 
performed  initiations,  I  received  them ;  you  danced  in  the  chorus, 
I  furnished  it ;  you  were  assembly  clerk,  I  was  speaker ;  you  acted 
third  parts,  I  heard  you ;  you  broke  down,  and  I  hissed ;  you  have 
worked  as  a  statesman  for  the  enemy,  I  for  my  country.  —  DEMOS- 
THENES. 


68  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

4.  The  concluding  statement  in  a  series  of  negatives  usually 
requires  tJie  Falllmj  lnjl<-'-ti»n,  indicating  the  summing  up  or 

close  of  the  series. 

Example. 

We  cannot  honor  our  country  with  too  deep  a  reverence;  we 
cannot  love  her  with  an  affection  too  pure  and  fervent ;  we  cannot 
serve  her  with  an  energy  of  purpose  or  a  faithfulness  of  zeal  too 
steadfast  and  ardent.  And  what  is  our  country?  It  is  not  the 
East,  with  her  hills  and  her  valleys,  with  her  countless  sails  and 
the  rocky  ramparts  of  her  shores.  It  is  not  the  North,  with  her 
thousand  villages  and  her  harvestrhomes,  with  her  frontier  of  the 
lake  and  the  ocean.  It  is  not  the  West,  with  her  forest-sea  and  her 
inland  isles,  with  her  luxuriant  expanses  clothed  in  the  verdant 
corn,  with  her  beautiful  Ohio  and  her  majestic  Missouri.  Xor  is 
it  yet  the  South,  opulent  in  the  mimic  snow  of  the  cotton,  in  the 
rich  plantations  of  the  rustling  cane,  and  in  the  golden  robes  of 
the  rice-field.  What  are  these  but  the  sister  families  of  one 
greater,  holier  family,  our  country? — (MMMKI  . 

The  Circumflexes:  Definition.  —  The  Circumflexes  consist  of 
combination  of  the  rising  and  falling  inflections  on  a  single 
syllable  or  word.  When  the  rising  inflection  is  followed  by 
the  falling,  we  have  the  Falling  Circumflex  (  ^  ) ;  when  the 
falling  inflection  is  followed  by  the  rising,  it  is  the  Rising 
Circumflex  (  ^  ).  There  may  also  be  a  combination  of  the 
circumflexes  on  a  single  syllable  or  word.  The  falling  cir- 
cumflex followed  by  the  rising  produces  the  Double  Rising 
Circumflex  ('^^);  the  union  of  two  falling  circumflexes, 
the  Double  Falling  Circumflex  (^  ^).  Two  of  the  fore- 
going circumflexions,  it  will  be  seen,  resemble  closely  the 
voice-movement  in  stress-emphasis,  as  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  (p.  47).  The  first  diagram  there  given, 
illustrating  the  voice-movement  in  emphasizing  "  Capital/' 
corresponds  to  that  of  the  double  rising  circumflex;  and 


INFLECTION.  69 

the  second  diagram,  illustrating  the  movement  in  giving 
"  Force,"  to  that  of  the  falling  circumflex. 

Usage.  —  The  leading  characteristic  of  the  circumflex  is 
its  use  in  the  expression  of  a  double  purpose,  idea,  or  motive. 
We  saw,  in  the  chapter  on  Emphasis  (p.  47),  how  the  double 
rising  circumflex  may  be  used  both  to  emphasize  a  word  and 
to  point  the  thought  forward,  and  thus  subserves  a  double 

-**s* 

purpose.  Again,  the  question,  "  You  say  he  is  going  ?  "  is 
(••[iiivalent  to  saying,  "  You  say  he  is  going,  do  you?"  In 
the  sentence,  "  Ah,  I  am  delighted  to  see  you ! "  the  fall- 
ing circumflex  indicates  surprise  added  to  delight.  In  the 
expression  of  "  Ah !  he  paused  upon  the  brink,"  the  double 
falling  circumflex  says,  "  Aha !  there  was  a  reason  for  his 
pausing,  then?"  A  further  use  of  the  circumflex  —  a  use 
most  stressed  by  writers  —  is  its  adaptability  for  the  expres- 
sion of  irony,  sarcasm,  raillery,  contempt,  —  any  expression 

wherein  we  wish  to  say  something  the  words  themselves  do 

s~*^>          ~^*s 
not  say;  as,  "Brutus  was  an  honorable  man.     So  are  they 

atl  —  all  honorable  men." 

Some  of  the  principal  words,  whereby  either  a  serious  or 
an  ironical  idea  may  be  expressed  by  use  of  the  appropriate 
circumflex,  are  marked  in  the  following  extracts. 

Examples. 

(a)  Suppose  you  do  contradict  yourself;  what  then?  "Ah, 
then,"  exclaim  the  aged  ladies,  "  you  shall  be  sure  to  be  misun- 
derstood." Misunderstood?  It  is  a  right  fool's  word.  Every 
pure  and  wise  spirit  that  ever  took  flesh  was  misunderstood. — 
EMERSON. 

(6)  The  citizen  who  supposes  that  he  does  his  whole  duty  when 
he  votes,  places  a  premium  upon  political  knavery.  Thieves  wel- 
come him  to  the  polls  and  offer  him  a  choice,  which  he  has  done 
nothing  to  prevent,  between  Jeremy  Diddler  and  Dick  Turpin. 


70  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

The  party  cries  for  which  he  is  responsible  are:    "  Turpin  ana 
Honesty !  "  "  Diddler  and  Reform  1 " —  CURTIS. 

(c)  Signior  Antonio,  many  a  time  and  oft 
In  the  Rial  to  you  have  rated  me 
About  my  moneys  and  my  usances : 

Still  have  I  borne  it  with  a  patient  shnig; 

For  sufferance  is  the  badge  of  all  our  tribe.  .  .  . 

Wt-11,  then,  it  now  appears  you  need  my  help: 

Go  to,  then ;  you  come  to  me,  and  you  say, 

Shylock,  we  would  have  moneys.  .  .  . 

"What  should  I  say  to  you  ?    Should  I  not  say, 

Hath  a  dog  money?     Is  it  possible 

A  cur  can  lend  three  thousand  ducats?     Or 

Shall  I  bend  low,  and  in  a  bondman's  ki-y, 

With  bated  breath  and  whispering  humbleness, 

Say  this, — 

Fair  sir,  you  spit  on  me  on  Wednesday  la~ 

You  spurn 'd  me  such  a  day;  another  time 

You  calFd  me  dog ;  and  for  these  courtesies 

I'll  lend  you  thus  much  moneys? 

—  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  I,  Scene  ITT. 

(d)  The  advocates  of  Charles  the  First,  like  the  advoca 
other  malefactors  against  whom  overwhelming  evidence  is  pro- 
duced, generally  decline  all  controversy  about  the  factj  and  con- 
tent themselves  with  calling  testimony  to  character.     He  had  so 
many  private  virtues!     And  had  James  the  Second  no  private 
virtues?     Was  Oliver  Cromwell,  his  bitterest  enemies  themselves 
being  judges,  destitute  of  private  virtues? 

And  what,  after  all,  are  the  virtues  ascribed  to  Charles?  A 
religious  zeal,  not  more  sincere  than  that  of  his  son,  and  fully  as 
weak  and  narrow-minded,  and  a  few  of  the  ordinary  household 
decencies  which  half  the  tombstones  in  England  claim  for  those 
who  lie  beneath  them.  A  good  father !  A  good  husband !  Ample 


INFLECTION. 


71 


apologies  indeed  for  fifteen  years  of   persecution,  tyranny,  and 
falsehood! 

We  charge  him  with  having  broken  his  coronation  oath ;  and 
we  are  told  that  he  kept  his  marriage  vow !  We  accuse  him  of 
having  given  up  his  people  to  the  merciless  inflictions  of  the  most 
hot-headed  and  hard-hearted  of  prelates ;  and  the  defense  is,  that 
he  took  his  little  son  on  his  knee  and  kissed  him !  We  censure 
him  for  having  violated  the  articles  of  the  Petition  of  Right,  after 
having,  for  good  and  valuable  consideration,  promised  to  observe 
them ;  and  we  are  informed  that  he  was  accustomed  to  hear  prayers 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning !  It  is  to  such  considerations  as  these, 
together  with  his  Vandyke  dress,  his  handsome  face,  and  his  peaked 
beard,  that  he  owes,  we  verily  believe,  most  of  his  popularity  with 
the  present  generation.  —  MACAULAY. 

The  Slides  :  Definition.  —  The  slides  are  those  variations 
from  the  key  whereby  the  voice  is  carried  through  a  series 
of  words,  phrases,  clauses,  or  sentences,  from  below  the  key 
to  and  above  it,  or  vice  versa.  From  below  the  key  upward 
is  called  the  Rising  Slide ;  as, 


From   above  the   key   downward   is  called   the   Falling 
as, 


72  Pl'BLIC  SPEAKI\<;. 

The  slides,  then,  are  exaggerated  or  prolonged  inflections, 
and  the  same  General  Law  applies  in  their  use.  In  the 
illustrations  above,  for  example,  the  first  question  —  "  Can 
you  not  let  your  voice  fall?"  —expresses  a  doubt.  The 
sense  is  incomplete  until  the  answer  is  received,  therefore 
the  voice  rises.  The  second  question  — "  Why  don't  you 
let  your  voice  fall?" — assumes  that  you  can  let  it  fall, 
and  requires  for  an  answer  an  explanation  complete  in 
itself,  therefore  the  voice  falls. 

Usage.  —  The  principal  uses  of  the  slides  are :  — 

1.  A  definite  question  takes  the  Rising  Slide.  A  definite 
question  is  one  that  can  be  answered  by  yes  or  no ;  and  the 
thought  is  incomplete  until  the  answer  is  given. 

Examples. 

(«)    Will  any  man  deny  that? 

(h)  Will  any  man  challenge  a  line  of  the  statement  that  free 
consent  is  the  foundation  rock  of  all  our  institutions? 

(c)  Is  it  ever  true  that  our  efforts  td  impress  are  greater  thaii 
our  efforts  to  be  ? 

(d)  Is  there,  then,  no  death  for  a  word  once  spoken  ? 
Was  never  a  deed  but  left  its  token 

Written  on  tablets  never  broken?  —  WHITTIER. 

(e)  Are  we  to  go  on  cudgelling,  and  cudgelling,  and  cudgelling 
men's  ears  with  coarse  processes?    Are  we  to  consider  it  a  special 
providence  when  any  good  comes  from  our  preaching  or  our  teaching? 
Are  we  never  to  study  how  skilfully  to  pick  the  lock  of  curiosity  ; 
to  unfasten  the  door  of  fancy;  to  throw  wide  open  the  halls  of 
emotion,  and  to  kindle  the  light  of  inspiration  in  the  souls  oi  m.-n  ? 
Is  there  any  reality  in  oratory?     It  is  all  real.  —  BEECH KR. 


INFLECTION.  73 

2.  An  indefinite  question  takes  the  Falling  Slide.  An  in- 
definite question  is  one  that  cannot  be  answered  by  yes 

or  no.  * 

Examples. 

(a)    What  can  this  man  say?     What  can  he  do?     Where  can 

hego*?  ^ 

(6)  Why  was  the  French  Revolution  so  bloody  and  destructive  ? 
Why  was  our  Revolution  of  1641  comparatively  mild?  Why  was 
our  Revolution  of  1688  milder  still?  Why  was  the  American 
Revolution,  considered  as  an  internal  movement,  the  mildest  of 

in? 

(c)  Shut  now  the  volume  of  history,  and  tell  me,  on  any  prin- 
ciple of  human  probability,  what  shall  be  the  fate  of  this  handful 
of  adventurers?  Tell  me,  man  of  military  science,  in  how  many 
months  were  they  all  swept  off  by  the  thirty  savage  tribes  enumer- 
ated within  the  early  limits  of  New  England  ?  Tell  me,  politician, 
how  long  did  this  shadow  of  a  colony,  on  which  your  conventions 
and  treaties  had  not  smiled,  languish  on  the  distant  coast? 

Oftentimes  a  sentence  in  the  interrogatory  form  is  really 
an  exclamatory  sentence,  —  an  emphatic  affirmation. 

Example. 

Is  it  possible  that,  from  a  beginning  so  feeble,  so  frail,  so  worthy 
not  so  much  of  admiration  as  of  pity,  there  has  gone  forth  a  prog- 
ress so  steady,  a  growth  so  wonderful,  an  expansion  so  ample,  a 
reality  so  important,  a  promise,  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  so  glorious ! 

Contrariwise,  a  sentence  exclamatory  in  form  may  in 
reality  be  a  definite  interrogation. 

Example. 

Charles  Sumner  insult  the  soldiers  who  had  spilled  their  blood 
in  a  war  for  human  rights!  Charles  Sumner  degrade  victories 


74  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

and  depreciate  laurels  won  for  the  cause  of  universal  freedom  !  — 
how  strange  an  imputation! 

3.    When  a  direct  question  is  (a)  repeated  for  emphasis,  or 
(b)   when  the  concluding  question   in  a  series  emphasizes  or 
the  series,  the  Falling  Slnli-  /*  used. 


Examples. 

(a)  Q.  Can  you  not  let  your  voice  fall? 
.1.  Whit? 

Q.  Can  you  not  let  your  voice  fan  ? 

(b)  Is  he  honest?     Is   he  faithful?      Is   he  competent?      In 
short,  will  he  fill  the  requirements  of  this  position  ? 

4.  When  any  dame  or  egression  taking  either  a  risimj  »r 
falling  slide  is  followed  by  explanatory  words,  tli?  ditlr  in  con- 
tinued over  those  ttw/.s. 

Examples. 

(a)  Did  you  see  the  procession  ?  asked  the  little  fellow,  eagerly. 

(b)  When  are  you  going  to  pay  me?  he  asked  sternly. 

(c)  Do  you  fear  death  in  my  company?  he  cried  to  the  anxious 
sailors,  when  the  ice  on  the  coast  of  Holland  had  almost  crushed 
the  boat  that  was  bearing  them  to  shore. 

5.  At  the  close  of  a  paragraph,  and  especially  at  the  dose 
of  a  speech,  cadence  and  emphasis   usually  require  that  the 
combined   rising  and  falling  slides  be  used.     The   proper 
delivery  of  oratorical  discourse  is  characterized  by  a  cer- 
tain cadence,  expressed  by  a  rhythmic  swing  of  the  voice, 
with   periodic  pauses.      And   nowhere  is  this   cadence  so 
marked  as  when   the   speaker   utters  his  final  words  and 
leaves  the  final  impression  upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers. 
Here  is  the  climax  in  delivery.      It  is  difficult  to  illus- 
trate, by  single  examples  cut  off   from  the  main  body  of 


IX  FLECTION.  75 

the  discourse,  even  one  of  the  elements  of  effective  climactic 
utterance.  But  one  thing,  surely,  the  speaker  does  need  to 
do  :  he  should  come  down,  like  a  cannon  ball  from  the  ceiling, 
with  a  positiveness  and  weight  —  a  collusiveness  —  that 
leaves  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  audience  of  his  having 
concluded.  This  is  accomplished  by  a  pronounced  falling 
slide.  To  prepare  for  this,  the  phrase  preceding  the  closing 
phrase  should  be  given  with  the  rising  slide.  In  the  exam- 
ple below,  note  the  difference  between  giving  "  eternal 
tendencies  "  in  a  monotone  and  giving  it  with  the  rising 
slide  and  a  pause,  followed  by  the  falling  slide  on  "  cannot 
l)e  conquered  "  :  — 


Example. 

Fight  on,  thoii  brave,  true  heart,  and  falter  not,  through  dark 
fortune  and  through  bright.  The  cause  thou  fightest  for,  so  far  as 
it  is  true,  no  further,  but  precisely  so  far,  is  very  sure  of  victory. 
Th«»  falsehood  alone  of  it  will  be  conquered,  will  be  abolished,  as 
it  ought  to  be;  but  the  truth  of  it  is  part  of  Nature's  own  laws, 
nni|K»  rates  with  the  world's  eternal  tendencies,  and  cannot  be 
conquered.  —  C  ARLYLE. 

Faults  of  Inflection. 

1.  A  general  monotone.  When  a  generally  level  tone  is 
used  in  speaking,  the  relation  of  ideas  is  not  expressed  to 
the  hearers.  True,  in  highly  emotional  expression,  when  the 
thought  is  dominated  by  some  one  emotion,  the  inflections 
are  not  pronounced,  they  are  subordinated  —  swallowed  up, 
as  it  were  —  in  the  expression  of  the  prevailing  emotion, 


76  PUBLIC   >f  MAKING. 

Abide  with  me:  fast  falls  the  eventide: 
The  darkness  deepens;  Lord,  with  me  abide: 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  O,  abide  with  me. 

•The  prevailing  emotion  in  this  selection  is  reverence.  l»-t 
us  say;  and  to  over-inflect  at  the  pauses  —  to  use  a  "  wrig- 
gling" voice,  as  Professor  Corson  says  —  is  to  make  it  over- 
conversational,  matter-of-fact.  But  a  large  part  of  speaking 
has  to  do  with  explaining  the  thought  The  inflections  at 
pauses  show  the  relation  of  the  ideas.  Acquire  the  habit  of 
using  them.  If  you  are  accustomed  to  speak  on  a  dead 
level,  overdo  the  inflections  until  the  new  habit  is  fixed. 
Limber  up ! 

The  well-known  lines  of  Hamlet,  given  below,  will  servo 
as  an  excellent  example  for  practice  in  acquiring  flexibility. 
Some  of  the  principal  inflections  that  might  be  used  in  the 
rendering,  are  indicated;  but  here  again,  the  mind  of  the 
i  in  ffri  dual  reader  must  be  the  guide. 

Example. 

Speak  the  speech,  I  pray  you,  as  I  pronounced  it  to  you,  trippingly 
on  the  tongue ;  but  if  you  mouth  it,  as  many  of  your  players  do,  I 
had  as  lief  the  town  crier  spoke  my  lines.  Nor  do  not  saw  the  air 
too  much  with  your  hand,  thus ;  but  use  all  gently  :  for  in  the  very 
torrent,  tempest,  and  (as  I  may  say)  the  whirlwind  of  passion, 
you  must  acquire  and  beget  a  temperance  that  may  give  it  smooth- 
ness. Oh,  it  offends  me  to  the  soul  to  hear  a  robustious,  periwig- 
pated  fellow  tear  a  passion  to  tatters,  to  very  rags,  to  split  the  ears 
of  the  groundlings,  who,  for  the  most  part,  are  capable  of  nothing 
but  inexplicable  dumb-shows  and  noise.  I  would  have  such  a  fel- 
low whipped  for  o'erdoing  Termagant;  it  out-herods  Herod:  pray 
you,  avoid  it. 

Be  not  too  tame  neither,  but  let  your  o\v  n  discretion  be  your  tutor : 
suit  the  action  to  the  word,  the  wordlo  the  action ;  with  this  special 


INFLECTION.  77 

observance,  that  you  o'erstep  not  the  modesty  of  Nature  :  for  any- 
thing so  overdone  is  from  the  purpose  of  playing,  whose  end,  both 
at  the  first  and  now,  was  and  is,  to  hold,  as  't  were,  the  mirror  up 
to  Nature,  to  show  Virtue  her  own  feature,  Scorn  her  own  image, 
and  the  very  age  and  body  of  the  time  his  form  and  pressure. 
Now,  this  overdone,  or  come  tardy  off,  though  it  make  the  unskill- 
ful laugh,  cannot  but  make  the  judicious  grieve  ;  the  censure  of  the 
which  one  must,  in  your  allowance,  o'erweigh  a  whole  theatre  of 
others.  Oh,  there  be  players  that  I  have  seen  play  —  and  heard 
others  praise,  and  that  highly  —  not  to  speak  it  profanely,  that, 
neither  having  the  accent  of  Christians,  nor  the  gait  of  Christian, 
pagan,  nor  man,  have  so  strutted  and  bellowed  that  I  have  thought 
some  of  Nature's  journeymen  had  made  men,  and  not  made  them 
well,  they  imitated  humanity  so  abominably. 

2.  A  Monotony  of  the  Rising  Inflection.     The  effect  is  a 
continuous  flow  of  words  without  any  breaks  or  stops.     The 
audience  feels  impelled  to  say  "  Give  us  a  rest ! "    It  is  fre- 
quently noticed  that  this  habit  is  carried  to  such  ridiculous 
extremes  that  those  speakers  who  swing  into  a  "ministerial" 
or  "  oratorical  "  tone,  will  close  a  speech  or  address  with 
the  rising  inflection.     The  hearers  are  left  suspended,  as  it 
were,  in  mid-air,  and  must  come  down  of  their  own  accord, 
after  they  realize  that  the  speaker  has  concluded.     The  habit 
has  its  origin,  no  doubt,  in  the  use  of  the  rising  inflection 
for  voicing  an  appeal,  —  a  characteristic  of  oratory  proper. 
But  it  is  sadly  overworked,  even  by  prominent  and  suc- 
cessful orators.     Young  would-be  orators  imitate  and  per- 
petuate the  fault,  just  as  young  preachers  imitate  the  faults 
of  their  elders.     Avoid  it. 

3.  A  Monotony  of  the  Falling  Inflection.     We  have  seen 
the  use  of  the  falling  inflection  in  expressing  "  momentary 
completeness,"  —  in  giving  added  emphasis,  strong  affirma- 
tion, positiveness.     For  such  purposes  it  is  widely  service- 


78  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

able  in  oratory.  But  the  proper  use  of  the  falling  inflection 
is  a  very  different  matter  from  its  habitual  and  almost  con- 
stant use.  Many  speakers  never  seem  to  see  farther  than 
the  length  of  a  phrase  or  clause,  and  at  well-nigh  every 
pause  the  voice  goes  down,  no  matter  what  the  phrase- 
relation  may  be.  This  habit  gives  a  scrappy,  disconnected, 
heavy  and  tedious  effect  to  speech.  Avoid  it. 

4.  Using  a  semitone,  instead  of  a  complete  fall,  especial!?/ 
on  the  last  syllable  of  a  ivord  that  competes  the  thought.     The 
speaker  with  this  habit  seems  to  be  always  feeling  bad. 
The  effect  is  to  turn  plain  discourse  to  pathos.     The  fault 
may  be  corrected  by  testing  the  voice  with  the  piano,  and 
make  it  descend  at  least  an  octave  in  giving  the  falling  slide 
or  falling  inflection. 

5.  Dropping  the  voice  so  suddenly  or  so  low  that  the  last 
syllable  /*  ////>•/«•//  <>,-  innmUble.      This   may  arise  either  from 
an  excessive  fall  of  the  voice  on  the  final  word  or  sylla- 
ble, or  from  delivering  the  syllable  or  word  preceding  the 
close  in  so  low  a  key  that  there  is  no  room  in  the  compass 
for  a  further  distinct  fall.     The  fault  may  be  corrected  by 
keeping  the  voice  up  —  or  raising  it  if  need  be  —  on  the 
syllable  or  word  preceding  the  close,  and  thus  prepare  for 
the  complete  and  normal  fall. 

SUMMARY. 

Inflection  refers  to  the  bends  or  waves  of  the  voice  above  and 
below  the  Key.  The  General  Law  of  Inflection  is:  When  the 
thought  is  complete,  the  voice  falls ;  when  the  thought  is  incomplete, 
the  voice  rises,  There  are  many  and  various  cases  that  come  under 
this  General  Law,  but  the  point  for  remembrance  is:  The  test  of 
the  proper  use  of  inflection  is  not  the  punctuation  marks  or  rales, 
but  the  test  is,  —  What  inflection  best  realizes  the  speaker's  purpose 
at  the  moment  of  utterance  ? 


CHAPTER   VII. 

TIME:   RATE,  PHRASING,  TRANSITION, 

Definition.  —  Time  is  the  duration  of  utterance.  It  relates 
to  the  length  of  vocal  sounds,  to  the  rapidity  of  word-utter- 
ance, and  to  the  pauses  in  speech.  The  leading  phases  of 
Time  may  be  classified  as  Rate,  Phrasing,  and  Transition. 

Rate.  —  Rate,  also  called  time  or  movement,  has  reference 
to  the  rapidity  or  slowness  of  utterance.  The  average  rate 
of  delivery  in  public  speaking,  allowing  for  pauses  and 
transitions,  is  usually  placed  at  one  hundred  and  twenty 
words  per  minute.  Rate,  however,  is  a  matter  of  relativity. 
It  varies  with  the  individual  temperament,  the  matter,  and 
the  circumstances  under  which  an  address  is  given. 

The  common  faults  of  rate  are :  (1)  speaking  too  rapidly 
or  (2)  too  slowly,  (3)  a  fitful,  unsteady  movement,  and 
(4)  lack  of  adaptation  of  rate  to  express  the  varying 
thoughts  and  emotions.  We  may  therefore  deduce  the 
following :  — 

Admonitions  as  to  Rate. 

1.  Avoid  speaking  too  rapidly.  With  the  young  speaker, 
under  stress  of  more  or  less  nervousness,  over-rapid  utter- 
ance is  by  far  the  more  common  fault.  So  it  is  well  for 
every  beginner  to  suspect  himself  of  trying  to  speak  too  fast. 
In  the  first  place,  he  must  always  speak  slowly  enough 
to  enunciate  clearly.  Then  he  must  speak  deliberately 
enough  for  the  hearers  to  get  the  thought  as  he  proceeds : 

79 


80  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

he  must  not  set  a  faster  pace  than  the  audience  can  easily 
follow.  Especially  at  the  beginning  of  a  speech,  when  the 
audience  is  as  yet  more  or  less  inattentive,  when  emotions 
are  quiescent,  and  the  speaker  is  pulling  himself  and  his 
thoughts  together,  he  should  proceed  slowly  and  deliberately. 
The  same  suggestion  applies,  as  we  shall  see,  to  the  begin- 
ning of  new  lines  of  thought.  Usually  begin  slowly  at  the 
transitions. 

By  acquiring  the  power  and  habit  of  slow,  measured 
utterance, — by  making  the  words,  in  the  process  of  utter- 
ance, speak  all  they  can  speak, — a  student  can  increase 
many  fold  his  power  and  effectiveness  in  delivery.  When 
a  speaker  pauses  or  lingers  on  a  word,  he  does  so  that  he 
and  his  hearers  may  have  more  time  in  which  to  think  of 
its  meaning.  "Dwell  upon — expand  —  these  words,"  is  a 
frequent  direction  that  needs  be  given  the  young  speaker. 
Now,  rate  is  affected  in  two  principal  ways :  by  the  pause 
between  words,  and  by  the  time  taken  in  enunciating  a 
word.  The  matter  of  time-taking  for  pauses  we  shall  con- 
sider under  Phrasing.  But  a  whirlwind  rate  is  marked  by 
a  snappy,  jerky  vocalization.  If  you  find  you  speak  too 
fast,  practise  taking  about  three  times  as  long  to  enunciate 
your  words  as  you  have  been  accustomed  to.  Take  a  simple 
sentence,  as,  "Most  beginners  speak  too  rapidly,  but  slow 
down  with  experience,"  and  give  it  at  your  usual  rate,  then 
with  gradually  increasing  slowness,  drag,  if  you  please,  —  it 
will  seem  to  be  dragging  to  you,  anyway,  —  only  get  in  the 
habit  of  speaking  more  slowly. 

In  prolonging  the  sounds  that  go  to  make  up  a  word,  it 
should  be  noted  that  certain  classes  of  sounds  are  capable 
of  almost  unlimited  prolongation,  other  sounds  of  limited 
prolongation,  and  still  others  of  little  or  none.  Generally 
speaking,  the  vowel  sound,  which  is  the  body  of  the  word, 
and  not  the  consonant,  is  to  be  prolonged.  Especially  is 


TIME:    RATE,   PHRASING,    TRANSITION.  81 

this  true  of  the  long  vowel  sounds  in  such  words  as  maim, 
eve,  roar,  long,  all;  they  are  "continuant"  sounds,  —  long 
"  quantity."  Of  medium  quantity  are  such  words  as  let, 
ft/tithe,  mart,  boat;  while  such  words  as  quick,  stop,  spot,  back, 
pretty,  are  of  short  quantity,  —  "stopt"  sounds,  —  and  to 
prolong  them  produces  the  drawl. 

Exercises  for  acquiring:  Slow  Bate. 

(a)  Practise  prolonging  the  vowel  sound  in  such  words  as  all 
(juhl,  tiinr,  sorrow,  glory,  defile,  grandeur,  patriotism. 

(l>)  Practise  prolonging  the  emphatic  words  in  a  sentence ;  as, 
'•  This  was  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all." 

(c)  Repeat  sentences  with  varied  rate  ;  as,  "  The  glorious  achieve- 
ments of  the  nineteenth  century  will  never  be  forgotten." 

2.  Avoid  a  dragging  or  drawling  utterance.  While  the 
speaker  should  keep  his  hearers  close  upon  his  heels,  he 
should  not  allow  them  to  run  on  ahead  of  him.  The  modern 
audience  wants  the  speaker  to  move  along.  They  may  not 
insist  on  a  lightning  express,  but  they  do  not  care  for  a  slow 
freight.  The  student  with  a  dragging,  tedious  rate  of  deliv- 
ery frequently  needs  to  go  through  a  general  waking-up  pro- 
cess, physical  and  mental, — foot-ball  and  mental  arithmetic, 
for  example.  He  needs  to  get,  in  some  way,  more  life  and 
energy  into  his  being.  Occasionally,  however,  a  student  will 
have  acquired  a  drawl  who  has  plenty  of  physical  energy 
and  mental  alertness ;  it  is  simply  a  habit.  The  remedy  is 
the  reverse  of  the  suggestions  given  under  the  preceding 
heading.  Clip  the  words  shorter,  especially  the  final  syl- 
lable of  the  final  word  at  a  partial  or  complete  fall,  and  cut 
out  any  addition  like  "  ugh,"  "  ah,"  after  the  final  syllable. 
Let  the  words  of  your  sentences  be  given  with  a  snap  and  a 
ring.  Use  the  staccato,  dynamic  mode  of  utterance,  with  the 
diaphragmatic  impulse.  See  the  thought-movement,  and 


82  PUBLIC  SPEAKIXG. 

make  it  move  accordingly.     Practise  this  ringing,  dynamic 
style  of  delivery  in  the  following  selection :  — 

Example. 

The  American  people  have  advanced  from  the  seaboard  with 
the  rifle  and  the  axe,  the  plough  and  the  shuttle,  the  teapot  and 
the  Bible,  a  rocking  chair  and  a  spelling  book,  a  bath-tub  and  a 
tree  constitution,  sweeping  across  the  Alleghanies,  overspreading 
the  prairies,  and  pushing  on  until  the  dash  of  the  Atlantic  in 
their  ears  is  lost  in  the  murmur  of  the  Pacific ;  and  as,  whenever 
the  goddess  of  the  old  mythology  touched  the  earth,  flowers  and 
fruit  answered  her  footfall,  so  in  the  long  trail  of  this  advancing 
race,  it  has  left  clusters  of  happy  states,  teeming  with  a  population 
man  by  man  more  intelligent  and  prosperous  than  ever  before  the 
sun  shone  upon,  and  each  remoter  camp  of  that  triumphal  march 
is  but  a  further  outpost  of  American  civilization.  —  CURTIS. 

3.  Avoid  an  unsteady,  jerky  movement.  This  fault  is  espe- 
cially common  with  speakers  of  a  nervous  temperament. 
It  manifests  itself  by  long  and  too  frequent  pauses,  by  a 
terrific  rate  for  a  few  words  and  then  a  sudden  stop,  or  by 
any  lack  of  proportion  in  the  rate.  The  utterance  moves 
by  fits  and  jerks,  like  a  horse  that  has  not  learned  to  pull 
steadily.  Proper  timing  will  result  in  that  rhythmic  move- 
ment which  is  a  characteristic  of  oratorical  prose,  as  of 
poetry.  This  well-timed,  balanced  movement  should  be 
appreciated  and  acquired.  Practise  giving  the  following 
extract  in  slow,  rhythmic,  measured  utterance. 

Example. 

So  live,  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan,  that  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go,  not  like  the  quarry  slave  at  night 


TIME:    RATE,    PHRASING,    TRANSITION.  83 

Scourged  to  his  dungeon,  but  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

— BRYANT. 

4.  Learn  to  adapt  the  Rate  to  the  thought  and  the  emotion. 
This  is,  after  all,  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.  We 
have  observed  that  the  two  extreme  faults  of  rate  are  mere 
hurry  on  the  one  hand,  and  tediousness  on  the  other.  Good 
movement  will  reveal  the  thought-pulsation  in  such  a  way 
as  to  avoid  either  of  these  extremes.  True  movement,  in 
speaking,  is  continually  varying;  as  varied  as  the  thoughts 
and  emotions  which  it  helps  express.  We  have  seen  that 
one  should  begin  an  address  with  deliberate  movement, 
and  have  noted  the  reasons  for  this  general  direction.  We 
know,  too,  that  the  mind  —  and  hence  the  voice  —  will 
dwell  upon  the  important,  and  pass  more  lightly  and 
quickly  over  the  unimportant;  that  movement  should  be 
retarded  when  speaking  of  the  point  at  issue,  accelerated 
in  speaking  of  a  side  issue ;  slower  in  the  main  current  of 
the  thought,  faster  on  the  incidental  or  illustrative  matter. 
We  know  that  emotions  of  awe,  grandeur,  sorrow,  reverence, 
and  the  like,  where  the  speaker's  feelings  are  choked,  or 
weighed  down,  or  overawed,  are  voiced  in  slower  movement; 
that  the  light,  joyous,  or  enthusiastic,  the  description  of 
movement,  the  expression  of  passion,  as  in  anger  or  indig- 
nation, are  relatively  faster.  This  cannot  of  course  be 
done  by  rule;  but  the  student  should  learn  to  appreciate 
and  put  in  practice  the  general  principle  of  adaptation  by 
variability. 

Thus,  in  the  first  example  below,  we  might  say  that  the 
eulogy  of  the  Minute  Man  begins  strong,  with  moderate 
rate;  when  the  famous  saying  of  Adams  is  reached,  the 
mind  lingers  on  the  scene  and  on  the  significance  of  his 


84  PUBLIC  SPEAKIXG. 

exclamation,  "  O,  what  a  glorious  morning ! "  This,  there- 
fore, should  be  given  more  slowly.  Then  at  once  the  scene 
shifts  to  the  charge  upon  the  British  soldiers  in  their  retreat 
from  Concord,  and  all  is  movement,  —  hills,  woods,  and  roads 
ablaze — the  impetuous  charge — the  disorderly  retreat, — 
and  should  be  given  with  much  faster  rate. 

In  the  second  example,  the  key-word  is  "Wait."  The 
thought-movement  is  deep,  calm,  and  stately,  hence  should 
be  given  with  slow  rate. 

Examples. 

(a)  He  [the  Minute  Man  of  the  Revolution]  was  the  man  who 
was  willing  to  pour  out  his  life's  blood  for  a  principle.  Intrenched 
in  his  own  honesty,  the  king's  gold  could  not  buy  him  ;  enthroned 
in  the  love  of  his  fellow  citizens,  the  king's  writ  could  not  take 
him ;  and  when,  on  the  morning  at  Lexington,  the  king's  troops 
marched  to  seize  him,  his  sublime  faith  saw,  beyond  the  clouds  of 
the  moment,  the  rising  sun  of  the  America  we  behold,  and,  can  - 
less  of  self,  mindful  only  of  his  country,  he  exultingly  exclaimed. 
*•  O,  what  a  glorious  morning ! "  And  then,  amid  the  flashing  hills, 
the  ringing  woods,  the  flaming  roads,  he  smote  with  terror  the 
haughty  British  column,  and  sent  it  shrinking,  bleeding,  wavering. 
and  reeling  through  the  streets  of  the  village,  panic  stricken  and 
broken. — CURTIS. 

(6)  Perhaps  the  greatest  lesson  which  can  be  found  in  the  lives 
of  great  men  is  told  in  a  single  word :  Wait !  Every  man  must 
patiently  bide  his  time.  He  must  wait.  With  calm  and  solemn 
footsteps  the  rising  tide  bears  against  the  rushing  torrent  upstream 
and  pushes  back  the  hurrying  waters.  With  no  less  calm  and 
solemn  footsteps,  and  no  less  certainty,  does  a  great  mind  bear  up 
against  public  opinion  and  push  back  its  hurrying  stream.  There- 
fore should  every  man  wait,  should  bide  his  time ;  not  in  listless 
idleness,  not  in  useless  pastime,  not  in  querulous  dejection,  but  in 
constant,  steady,  cheerful  endeavor,  always  willing,  and  fulfilling 
and  accomplishing  his  task,  that,  when  the  occasion  comes,  he  mav 
be  equal  to  the  occasion.  —  LONGFELLOW. 


TIME:    RATE,   PHRASING,  TRANSITION.  85 

Phrasing.  —  Phrasing  is  that  phase  of  time  which  relates 
to  pausing.  Our  language  is  made  up  of  groups  of  words  ex- 
pressing single  ideas.  These  ideas  are  more  or  less  closely 
related,  and  of  more  or  less  importance  in  relation  to  the 
thought.  Clearness  in  utterance  requires  that  these  rela- 
tions be  expressed.  Both  the  speaker  and  his  hearers  must 
give  attention  to  one  idea  at  a  time.  A  group  of  words  that 
expresses  a  single  thought  or  feeling,  describes  a  single 
event,  or  pictures  a  single  scene,  is  called  a  phrase.  To  group 
these  words  that  express  single  ideas  is  known  as  phrasing. 
Phrasing  is  vocal  punctuation  (indicated  by  vertical  lines, 
thus :  | |  ) ;  it  is  frequently  identical  with  gram- 
matical punctuation,  but  not  necessarily  so.  Phrase-pauses 
should  also  be  distinguished  from,  although  they  may  in- 
clude, emphatic  pauses.  (See  "Pause-emphasis,"  p.  45.) 

Other  vocal  elements,  as  we  have  seen  in  treating  of 
Emphasis,  Inflection,  and  Rate,  may  aid  in  showing  the 
relation  of  one  phrase  to  another,  but  phrasing  —  the  time- 
element —  refers  to  the  discrimination  of  ideas  by  pausing 
between  them.  The  pauses  will  be  of  greater  or  less  length, 
according  to  the  degree  of  separation.  No  hard  and  fast 
rule  can  be  laid  down.  The  frequency  and  length  of  his 
pauses  in  utterance  will  be  determined  by  the  speaker's  con- 
ception of  relationships.  But,  to  illustrate,  the  extracts  that 
follow  might  be  phrased  as  indicated. 

Examples. 

(a)  He  laughs  best  |  who  laughs  last. 

(6)  Whether  'tis  nobler  in  the  mind  |  to  suffer 
The  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune,  j 
Or  to  take  arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles,  | 
And  by  opposing  |  end  them  ? 

(r)  When  public  bodies  are  to  be  addressed  on  momentous  occa- 
sions, |  when  great  interests  are  at  stake,  |  and  strong  passions 


86  PUBLIC  SPEAEIX',. 

excited,  |  nothing  is  valuable  in  speech,  |  further  than  it  is  con- 
nected with  high  intellectual  and  moral  endowments.  |  Clear- 
ness, |  force,  |  and  earnestness  |  are  the  qualities  which  produce 
conviction. 

Faults  of  Phrasing. 

1.  Pausing  only  at  long  intervals.     This  is  a  most  common 
fault,  especially  in  the  delivery  of  a  memorized  selection  or 
address.     Words  are  continuously  poured  out,  with  little  or 
no  recognition  of  relationships.     Mere  fluency  is  not  elo- 
quence.    The  young  speaker  should  remember  the  old-time 
direction,  "  Mind  your  stops."     A  pause  may  be  far  more 
expressive  than  continuous  vocalizing.     At  such  pauses  the 
mind  is  not  blank,  but  is  thinking  for  and  with  the  audience; 
it  is  a  very  different  pause  from  that  caused  by  the  failure 
of  the  memory  or  by  stage-fright.     Cultivate  the  habit  of 
ease  and  time-taking.     Pauses,  as  we  have  seen,  will  vary 
in  length,  but  always  take  time  for  a  deep  inhalation. 

2.  Pausing  too  frequently.     This  is  a  common  fault  with 
those  of  a  nervous  temperament,  or  who  naturally  speak 
rapidly.     The  thought  is  thrown  out  in  chunks,  a  word  or 
two  at  a  time.     Such  a  speaker  utters  words  rather  than 
ideas,  parts  rather  than  units.     The  delivery  is  puffy,  like 
a  steam  engine,  choppy,  disconnected. 

If  you  find  you  have  either  of  these  faults,  take  a  givon 
selection,  properly  mark  the  phrasing,  and  then  practise  by 
pausing  at  the  places  marked,  and  only  at  such  places. 

Transition.  —  In  the  nomenclature  of  delivery,  transition 
refers  to  the  changes  that  take  place  in  passing  from  one 
thought-group  to  another.  It  is,  in  a  sense,  phrasing  on  a 
large  scale.  The  transition  from  one  mmi^-tftl  idea  to 
another,  from  a  literal  statement  to  an  illustration,  from 
one  part  of  a  description  to  another,  must  be  distinctly  in- 
dicated in  the  delivery.  The  larger  groups,  as  represented 


TINE:    RATE,    PHRASING,    TRANSITION.  87 

by  the  paragraph,  require  transitions  of  wider  intervals.  The 
speaker,  at  such  a  transition,  silently  says  to  himself  and  to 
his  audience,  "  I  have  concluded  with  that  line  of  thought. 
I  now  take  up  a  new  line  of  thought,"  or  "  I  am  now  to  speak 
of  another  phase  of  this  idea,"  as  the  case  may  be.  The 
speaker  must  take  time  to  adjust  his  mind  to  the  change, 
and  he  must  in  some  way  indicate  the  change  to  his  hearers, 
just  as  a  paragraph  indicates  it  to  readers.  To  accomplish 
this,  the  time-element  is  employed  in  taking  a  relatively  long 
pause,  aided,  usually,  by  a  change  in  rate,  key,  and  tone. 

In  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  the  young  speaker  will  either 
not  take  sufficient  time  to  make  his  transitions  marked,  or 
else  —  what  is  oftener  the  case  —  no  transitions  are  indi- 
cated in  the  delivery.  He  seems  to  proceed  on  the  assump- 
tion, "  If  I  don't  continue  to  pour  out  words,  I  am  lost ! " 
So  a  new  paragraph,  for  example,  is  taken  up  as  though  it 
were  a  new  sentence,  or  clause,  with  no  change  whatever 
in  the  general  delivery.  It  should  be  realized  that  well- 
marked,  easy,  natural  transitions  in  a  speech,  besides  show- 
ing changes  in  the  thought,  aid  much  in  breaking  up  a 
general  monotony  of  delivery. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  illustrate  how  transitions,  at  the 
varyingly  separated  thought-groups,  can  be  effected.  As 
illustrative  of  the  transitions  that  occur  within  a  paragraph, 
and  also  between  paragraphs,  see  the  selection,  "  Character 
Essential  for  a  Great  Lawyer,"  Chapter  XIII,  p.  170. 

SUMMARY. 

Time  relates  to  duration  of  utterance,  expressed  by  the  length  of 
vocal  sounds,  and  by  tho  pauses  between  words,  phrases,  and  para- 
graphs, It  is  an  important  means  of  expressing  thought-relations, 
The  various  ideas  and  emotions  in  a  discourse  should  be  given  with 
well-proportioned  rate,  and  their  relations  expressed  by  proper 
pauses  and  changes, 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

FOEOE,  OLIMAX,  VOLUME, 

Force.  —  The  public  speaker  aims  to  have  his  hearers  think 
as  he  thinks,  believe  as  he  believes,  and  act  as  he  would 
act.  Broadly  considered,  that  element  of  delivery  which 
induces  belief  and  action,  is  called  Force.  It  is  the  per- 
suasive element  in  oratory.  It  refers  to  the  energy,  the 
power  with  which  one  speaks.  Force  is  audible  earnest- 
ness. It  should  not  be  confounded  with  mere  loudness. 
Increased  loudness  may  be  an  accompaniment  of  increased 
force,  but  is  not  necessarily  so.  Indeed,  great  intensity 
of  feeling  is  seldom  shown  by  mere  noise. 

Since  force  has  to  do  with  emotional  expression,  it  must 
result  from,  and  vary  with,  the  various  emotions  that  rise 
from  the  ideas  uttered.  Hence  the  absurd  classifications 
found  in  elocution  manuals,  wherein  certain  emotions  are 
to  be  given  with  "  normal  effusive  "  or  "  guttural  explosive  " 
force,  are  worse  than  useless.  Certain  leading  faults,  how- 
ever, in  the  use  —  or  lack  of  use  — of  force,  embodied  in  the 
general  suggestions  that  follow,  may  well  be  heeded  by  the 
student  of  speaking. 

General  Suggestions  regarding  Force. 

1.  Adapt  the  voice  to  the  room  in  which  you  are  speakimj. 
Proper  adaptation  will  depend  upon  the  physical  condition 
of  the  speaker  and  upon  the  size  and  acoustics  of  the 
audience-room.  Ordinarily,  in  beginning  an  address,  no 


FORCE,    CLIMAX,    VOLUME.  89 

marked  force  is  required.  In  delivering  the  introductory 
matter,  the  emotions  are  not  as  yet  aroused.  Stress  is  laid 
upon  a  clear  statement  of  the  subject-matter  as  a  basis  for 
whatever  emotions  subsequently  grow  out  of  it.  "  It  is  of 
eloquence  as  of  a  flame :  it  requires  matter  to  feed  it,  motion 
to  excite  it,  and  it  brightens  as  it  burns."  There  is  much 
practical  sense  in  the  old  rule:  "Begin  low,  speak  slow; 
take  fire,  rise  higher ;  when  most  impressive  be  self-posses- 
sive." We  have  already  seen,  in  the  chapter  on  Key,  that 
it  is  not  always  necessary  to  "rise  higher"  as  you  "take 
fire";  but  "begin  low  "  is  a  good  general  rule.  It  indicates 
the  absence  of  rant  or  bluster,  and  the  presence  of  poise 
and  coiitroL But  while  a  purely  conversational  key  should 
ho  struck,  the  voice  should  l>e  sent  out  with  sufficient 
strength  to  reach  every  person  in  the  audience.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  who  had  many  theories  about  the  art  of 
public  speaking  and  the  way  of  managing  an  audience, 
used  to  advise  young  speakers  to  begin  in  a  low  tone, 
rather  below  the  normal,  so  as  to  catch  hold  of  the  watch- 
ful attention  of  the  meeting,  and  then,  when  that  atten- 
tion was  secured,  to  let  the  voice  out  to  its  normal  strength. 
This  plan  might  do  for  Mr.  Beecher,  but  it  is  a  dangerous 
rule  for  speakers  whom  audiences  are  not  so  anxious  to  hear 
as  they  were  to  hear  him.  A  safer  plan  is  for  the  speaker  to 
begin  with  such  clearness  and  strength  that  the  entire  audi- 
ence will  have  the  comfort  of  knowing  from  the  very  first 
sentence  that  they  will  have  no  trouble  in  following.  Now, 
to  do  this,  it  is  never  necessary  to  yell.  Deep  breathing, 
clear  enunciation,  and  sending  the  voice  out  to  the  farthest 
auditors,  are  the  primary  requisites  of  being  heard.  This 
sending  of  the  voice  out  to  the  whole  audience,  known  as 
"  carrying  power,"  is  one  of  the  several  means  of  objectifying 
the  thought,  which  is  the  speaker's  sole  aim.  To  secure 
this  carrying  power,  practise  speaking  a  given  sentence,  ten, 


il 


90  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

twenty,  and  one  hundred  feet  distant.  Learn  to  get  your 
voice  away  from  you.  The  speaker  must  have  a  conscious- 
ness of  those  farthest  away  in  the  audience,  and  aim  to 
include  them  within  his  vocal  range.  But  do  not  shout 
or  rant.  Avoid  all  attempts  at  "  pulmonary  eloquence." 
Thunder  without  electricity  is  a  contradiction  in  nature. 
If  the  thunder  tones  come  from  electrical,  emotional  states, 
well  and  good.  But  do  not  force  your  force.  Remember 
that  oftentimes  the  most  forceful  effects  come  from  a  quiet 
intensity.  The  greatest  force  comes  from  a  reserve  of  force. 
The  force  is  there,  but  the  most  effective  speakers  seldom 
let  their  voices  out  to  the  full  capacity.  You  always  feel 
that  there  is  a  reserve  of  power,  —  a  repose  that  is  in  itself 
an  emblem  of  strength.  Such  repose  is  simply  an  indication 
that  activity  at  the  centre  transcends  activity  at  the  surface; 
that  the  motive  power  is  controlling  and  moving  the  machin- 
ery. "People  always  perceive,"  says  Emerson,  "whether 
you  drive  or  whether  the  horses  take  the  bits  in  their  teeth 
and  run." 

A  speaker  uftvn  tries  !<•  makr  up  tor  a  lack  of  thought 
or  iVelinur  l>y  noise.  Such  a  >peak«-r  n.-.-ds  to  tak«-  tor  him- 
self the  nrijie  smt  tor  makin-  a  famoas  brand  of  coffee : 
"  Put  some  in."  The  relation  of  his  vocal  to  his  emotional 
power  is  like  the  Sangamon  River  steamboat  that  Lincoln 
describes.  It  had  a  ten-horse-power  engine  and  a  twenty- 
horse-power  whistle;  when  the  whistle  blew  the  engine 
stopped.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  tells  that  his  father,  Rev. 
Lyman  Beecher,  on  coming  home  from  church  one  day,  said, 
"  It  seems  to  me  that  I  never  made  a  worse  sermon  than 
I  did  this  morning."  "Why,  father,"  said  Henry,  "I 
never  heard  you  preach  so  loud  in  all  my  life."  "That 
is  the  way:  I  always  holler  when  I  haven't  anything  to 
say." 

While  there  is  the  other  side  to  this  question  of  adapta- 


FORCE,    CLIMAX,    VOLUME.  91 

bility,  I  have  stressed  the  fault  of  mere  loudness  because  it 
needs  especially  to  be  guarded  against.     Do  not  rant! 

2.  When  force  is  required,  use  it.  The  speaker  must  not 
only  be  earnest,  but  he  must  put  his  earnestness  into  his 
speech.  Failing  in  this,  he  is  called  dull,  dry,  lifeless  — 
without  force.  How  attain  this  increased  energy  and  in- 
tensity ?  Force,  as  has  been  said,  is  the  result  of  emotion.  v 
This  cannot  of  course  be  put  on  from  the  outside.  Con- 
scious attention  to  force  is  in  itself  apt  to  result  in  arti- 
ficiality. Primarily,  attention  must  be  given  to  driving 
the  ideas  home ;  let  the  emotion  and  its  forceful  expression 
grow  out  of  the  ideas.  One  can,  however,  by  an  exercise  of 
the  will,  speak  with  greater  energy.  He  can  wake  himself 
up.  Further,  by  thinking  over  his  speech,  be  it  an~  original 
address  or  a  declamation,  by  speaking  it  silently,  he  can  , 
call  up  the  necessary  emotions,  and  so  in  delivery  enter  into  • 
the  spirit  of  it.  By  a  careful  and  thorough  analysis,  as  out-- 
lined in  Chapter  I,  he  can  get  much  more  out  of  an  address, 
and  so  into  the  delivery,  than  appears  upon  the  surface. 
One  might  take  an  extract  from  the  maiden  speech  of  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  for  example,  and  have  a  certain  vague  and  ill- 
defined  emotion.  Now,  if  he  informs  himself  regarding  the 
occasion  of  the  speech, — the  cause  for  which  Phillips 
pleaded  and  in  which  he  believed;  the  opposition  of  the 
attorney  general ;  the  youth  and  moral  courage  of  the 
speaker,  and  all  the  attendant  circumstances,  he  is  in  a 
position  to  deliver  much  more  forcibly  such  an  outburst 
as:  — 

Sir,  when  I  heard  principles  laid  down  that  place  the  murderers 
of  .\ltou  side  by  side  with  Otis  and  Hancock,  with  Quincy  and 
Adams,!  thought  those  pictured  lips  would  have  broken  into  voice 
to  rebuke  that  recreant  American,  the  slanderer  of  the  dead.  Sir, 
for  the  sentiments  he  has  uttered  on  soil  consecrated  by  the 


92  PUBLIC   8PSAJHNG. 

prayers  of  Puritans  and  the  blood  of  patriots  the  earth   should 
have  yawned  and  swallowed  him  up ! 

So,  if  one  remembers  that  Grady's  speech  on  the  question 
of  negro  suffrage  was  delivered  before  a  New  England 
audience,  hostile  to  his  position ;  if  one  has  an  historical 
perspective,  and  reviews  the  period  of  Reconstruction,  and 
knows  the  existing  conditions  as  Grady  did,  the  following 
becomes  charged  with  force  in  its  utterance :  — 

The  question  is  asked  repeatedly,  "  When  will  the  black  man  in 
the  South  cast  a  free  ballot?  When  will  he  have  the  civil  rights 
that  are  his  ?  "  When  will  the  black  man  cast  a  free  ballot  ?  When 
ignorance  anywhere  is  not  dominated  by  the  will  of  the  intelligent; 
when  the  laborer  anywhere  casts  a  ballot  unhindered  by  his  boss; 
when  the  strong  and  the  steadfast  do  not  .-v.-ry  where  control  the 
suffrage  of  the  weak  and  the  shiftless.  Tlicn.  l.ut  not  till  then,  will 
the  ballot  be  free.  .  .  .  The  negro  can  never  control  in  the  South, 
and  it  would  be  well  if  partisans  in  the  North  would  understand 
this.  You  may  pass  your  force  bills,  but  they  will  not  avail ;  for 
never  again  will  a  single  state,  North  or  South,  be  delivered  to  the 
control  of  an  ignorant  and  inferior  race.  We  wrested  our  state 
government  from  negro  supremacy  when  the  Federal  drum-ln-at 
rolled  closer  to  the  ballot-box  and  when  Federal  bayonets  hedged 
it  about  closer  than  will  ever  again  !•«•  |>«'rmitt*'<l  in  a  free  com- 
munity. But  if  Federal  cannon  thundered  in  every  voting  district 
of  the  South,  we  would  still  find,  in  the  mercy  of  God,  the  means 
and  the  courage  to  prevent  its  re-establishment 

3.  Vary  your  force  with  the  varying  emotions.  All  force  is 
no  force,  for  herein,  as  in  other  things,  an  audience  is  im- 
pressed through  contrasts.  To  hammer  away  from  begin- 
ning to  end  not  only  tires  the  audience,  but  fails  to  impress 
at  those  places  where  hammering  is  needed.  It  is  so  easy 
for  the  young  speaker  to  swing  into  a  sort  of  "  oratorical " 
tone,  which  represents  a  vague  feeling  that  something  im- 
portant is  being  attempted,  though  he  doesn't  know  just 


FORCE,    CLIMAX,    VOLUME.  93 

what.  This  general  fault  is  exhibited  in  various  ways. 
Soini'  of  the  types  are:  the  barn-storming,  stump-speaking 
tone ;  the  dramatic,  or  stagey,  tone ;  the  pugnacious,  bull- 
ilo/ing  tone  ;  the  patronizing,  "nice,"  "goody-goody  "  tone; 
the  pathetic,  "ministerial"  tone.  In  all  such  cases  some 
prevailing  though  indefinite  and  inappropriate  emotion 
dominates  the  whole  delivery.  Sometimes  this  is  due  to 
non-appreciation  of  the  varying  emotions  of  a  discourse, 
and  again  it  is  simply  a  habit.  The  speaker  should  learn 
to  appreciate  and  to  give  free  expression  to  the  play  and 
interplay  of  emotions.  Of  course  the  emotions  that  come 
•  luring  the  delivery  of  a  given  speech  will  rarely,  if  ever,  be 
exactly  the  same  for  different  individuals.  This,  however, 
cannot  excuse  patent  incongruities  between  the  thought  and 
its  expression,  such  as  being  loud  and  harsh  rather  than 
soft  and  tender,  or  forcing  the  thought  as  though  the 
hearers  were  hostile,  rather  than  winning  the  audience  by 
appeal.  If  we  remember  that  emotions  come  and  go,  as  the 
ideas  march  forward ;  that  now  one  emotion  becomes  pre- 
dominant, now  another;  that  at  times,  in  almost  any 
speech,  occurs  the  purely  intellectual,  where  little  force  is 
required ;  if  we  bear  this  in  mind,  then  we  may  know  that 
one  can  rarely  deliver  an  address  with  a  single,  continuous 
emotion  and  speak  "  naturally." 

Analyze  the  following  introduction  to  one  of  Grady's 
speeches,  and  note  the  play  of  emotions  therein :  — 

It  was  Ben  Hill,  the  music  of  whose  voice  is  now  attuned  to  the 
symphonies  of  the  skies,  who  said,  "  There  was  a  South  of  secession 
and  slavery  —  that  South  is  dead.  There  is  a  South  of  union  and 
freedom  —  that  South,  thank  God,  is  living,  growing  every  hour." 

The  selection,  "  Character  Essential  for  a  Great  Lawyer," 
Chapter  XIII,  p.  170,  will  also  serve  as  an  excellent  study 
in  the  use  of  force. 


94  PUBLIC  8PEAEI\c. 

Climax. —  In  his  Practical  Rhetoric,  Professor  Gen u ML?  tlius 
defines  Climax:  "This  figure,  which  depends  upon  tin-  law 
that  a  thought  must  have  progress,  is  the  ordering  of  thought 
and  expression,  so  that  there  shall  be  uniform  and  evident 
increase  in  significance,  or  interest,  or  intensity."  In  ron- 
formity  with  the  rhetorical  climax  of  the  composition,  climax 
in  speaking  is  expressive  of  emotional  progress.  Emotions 
grow,  reach  their  height,  and  subside.  They  are,  therefore, 
expressed  by  gradually  increasing  force  until  this  highest 
point,  the  climax,  is  reached.  Climax,  then,  relates  to  those 
places  in  a  discourse  where  the  relatively  strongest  degrees 
of  force  are  required.  It  may  be  found  in  a  single  sentence, 
in  a  paragraph,  or  in  the  speech  taken  as  a  whole.  In  the 
latter  case,  it  is  identical  with  the  climax  of  some  one  para- 
graph, usually  the  last.  At  this  point,  the  emotions  peculiar 
to  the  speech,  having  gradually  matured,  reach  their  height, 
and  the  speaker  puts  forth  his  highest  power  in  the  delivery. 

The  climax  of  a  sentence  or  paragraph  usually  occurs  at  or 
near  the  close.  For  this  and  other  reasons  avoid  the  some- 
what common  fault  of  dropping  down  in  force  at  the  close 
of  the  sentence.  The  effect  is  often  to  make  every  sentence 
an  anti-climax,  and  so  leave  a  tame,  lifeless  impression. 

Sometimes  a  single  sentence  gives  an  excellent  opportunity 
for  effective  climax.  For  example,  begin  the  following  sen- 
tence on  a  very  low  pitch,  and  gradually  rise  to  a  very  high 
pitch  on  the  italicized  word,  then  gradually  descend :  — 

O,  you  and  I  have  heard  our  fathers  say 

There  was  a  Brutus  once  that  would  have  brooked 

Th'  eternal  devil  to  keep  his  state  in  Rome, 

As  easily  as  a  king. 

For  further  practice  in  climactic  expression,  see  the  sec- 
ond paragraph  of  "Conservatism,"  p.  11'. 


FORCE,    CLIMAX,    VOLUME.  95 

Volume.  —  We  have  seen,  in  the  chapter  on  Rate,  that  one 
means  of  speaking  more  slowly  is  to  dwell  upon  important 
words  by  prolonging  the  vowel  sounds.  Now,  if  in  addition 
to  simple  thought-emphasis,  the  words  so  prolonged  indi- 
cate wide  extent  or  large  dimensions,  or  stand  for  ideas  of 
solidity  or  weight,  we  should  express  this  concept  of  large- 
ness in  the  delivery.  This  is  the  work  of  volume.  We 
would,  for  example,  speak  of  a  mountain  daisy  in  a  lighter, 
thinner  tone  than  in  speaking  of  a  mountain  torrent.  So 
of  a  pebble  as  contrasted  with  a  boulder.  In  other  words, 
in  expressing  ideas  of  bigness,  we  use  a  big  voice.  Now, 
this  requirement  —  or  possibility  —  has  its  advantages  and 
its  dangers.  A  small,  thin  voice  does  not  measure  up  to 
large  ideas.  On  the  other  hand,  a  big  voice  with  no  dis- 
crimination is  ridiculous.  One  should  not  use  a  revolver  to 
shoot  an  elephant,  or  a  cannon  to  kill  a  mosquito.  Volume  is 
a  means  of  increased  force.  It  adds  weight  and  momentum. 
The  mind  and  feelings  must  determine  its  proper  use.  But 
the  power  to  increase  the  volume  frequently  needs  to  be  ac- 
quired. To  that  end,  take  such  words  as  "  volume,"  "  roll," 
'•thunder,"  "magnitude,"  and  roll  them  out  from  the  dia- 
phragm. In  like  manner  practise  giving  the  following 
sentences:  — 

(a)  Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great ! 

(7>)  Citizens  of  a  great,  free,  and  prosperous  country,  we  come 
to  honor  the  men,  our  fathers,  who,  on  this  spot  and  upon  this  day, 
a  hundred  years  ago,  struck  the  first  blow  in  the  contest  which 
made  that  country  independent. 

In  the  following  extract  from  Phillips's  eulogy  of  Daniel 
O'Connell,  the  description  of  Webster's  physical  advantage 
as  an  orator,  and  the  illustration  of  the  combined  force  and 
volume  of  O'Connell's  voice,  require  volume  for  adequate 
expression. 


96  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 


Example. 

Besides  his  irreproachable  character,  O'Connell  had  what  is  half 
the  power  of  the  popular  orator;  he  had  a  majestic  presence.  In 
his  youth  he  had  the  brow  of  a  Jupiter  or  a  Jove,  and  the  stature 
of  Apollo.  A  little  O'Connell  would  have  been  no  O'Connell  at  all. 

These  physical  advantages  are  half  the  battle.  You  remember 
the  story  Russell  Lowell  tells  of  Webster  when,  a  year  or  two  be- 
fore his  death,  the  Whig  party  thought  of  dissolution.  Webster 
came  home  from  Washington  and  went  down  to  Faneuil  Hall  to 
protest,  and  four  thousand  of  his  fellow  Whigs  went  out  to  meet 
him.  Drawing  himself  up  to  his  loftiest  proportions,  his  brow 
charged  with  thunder,  before  that  sea  of  human  faces,  he  said : 
"Gentlemen,  I  am  a  Whig;  a  Massachusetts  Whig;  a  Faneuil 
Hall  Whig;  a  revolutionary  Whig;  a  constitutional  Whig;  and  if 
you  break  up  the  Whig  party,  where  am  I  to  go  ?  "  "  And,"  says 
Lowell,  "  we  held  our  breath  thinking  where  he  could  go.  If  he 
had  been  five  feet  three,  we  should  have  said:  'Who  cares  \\IHMC 
you  go  ?  " 

Well,  O'Connell  had  all  that.  There  was  something  majestic  in 
his  presence  before  he  spoke,  and  he  added  to  it  what  Webstn  li;ul 
not,  —  the  magnetism  and  grace  that  melts  a  million  souls  into  his. 

Then,  he  had  a  voice  that  covered  the  gamut.  Speaking  in 
Exeter  Hall,  London,  I  once  heard  him  say,  "  I  send  my  voice 
across  the  Atlantic,  careering  like  the  thunderstorm  against  the 
breeze,  to  tell  the  slave-holder  of  the  Carolinas  that  God's  thunder- 
bolts are  hot,  and  to  remind  the  bondman  that  the  dawn  of  his 
redemption  is  already  breaking."  And  you  seemed  to  hear  his 
voice  reverberating  and  re-echoing  back  to  London  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  And  then,  with  the  slightest  possible  Irish  brogue, 
he  would  tell  a  story  that  would  make  all  Exeter  Hall  laugh,  and 
the  next  moment  tears  in  his  voice,  like  an  old  song,  and  five 
thousand  men  wept.  And  all  the  while  no  effort  —  he  seemed  only 
breathing, — 

"  As  effortless  as  woodland  nooks 
Send  violets  up,  and  paint  them  blue." 


FORCE,    CLIMAX,    VOLUME.  97 

SUMMARY. 

Force  deals  with  the  expression  of  feeling.  It  includes  Olimax, 
the  height  of  force,  and  Volume,  expressive  of  largeness  in  con- 
ception or  description,  In  all  its  phases,  the  mastery  and  use  of 
Force  distinguishes  the  successful  speaker  from  the  indifferent  or 
mediocre,  The  speaker  should  learn  to  adapt  his  voice  to  the  au- 
dience-room and  to  the  emotional  content  of  his  speech  by  appropriate 
loudness  and  volume,  and  by  bringing  out  the  climaxes,  Above  all 
must  emotion,  induced  by  the  mental  concept,  be  the  inspiration  and 
guide  in  the  use  of  Force. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

TONE-COLOR, 

Tone-color.  —  Tone-color  (German  Klang-farbe)  signifies 
that  quality  of  voice  whereby  emotions  find  expression. 
Reference  has  previously  been  made,  expressly  or  impliedly, 
to  the  leading  feature  of  this  element,  but  its  Importance  as 
a  medium  of  expression  will  justify  something  of  a  repeti- 
tion here. 

And  first,  tone-color  is  expressive  of  emotion  growing  out 
of,  and  gwen  along  with,  the  intellectual  aspects  of  the 
thought.  Its  basis  is  sympathy.  It  is  not  primarily  ex- 
pressive of  ideas  or  logical  relations.  It  shows  rather  the 
speaker's  point  of  view;  it  reveals  the  nature  and  degree 
of  his  responsiveness  to  the  thought.  Now,  since  tone- 
color  grows  out  of  emotional  states,  and  emotional  states 
grow  out  of  the  point  of  view,  and  the  point  of  view  de- 
pends upon  the  individual  speaker,  we  must  conclude  that 
the  classification  by  some  writers  of  a  given  selection  as 
adapted  to  a  given  "tone,"  that  certain  emotions  labelled 
with  certain  adjectives  require  the  "orotund,"  or  "  falsetto," 
or  "  aspirate,"  or  "  pectoral  "  quality ;  that  such  a  classifica- 
tion is  as  artificial  as  the  speaker  must  be  who  attempts  to 
follow  it.  Conscious  attention  to  tone-color  as  such  is  apt 
to  result  in  artificiality ;  the  attention  had  best  be  directed 
to  clarifying  and  intensifying  the  ideas  that  give  rise  to  the 
emotions.  True,  certain  physical  states  react  upon  and  pro- 
duce emotional  states.  One  may,  for  example,  "  bring  his 
voice  up  in  the  throat"  and  by  a  tremulous  vocalization  in- 


TOXE-COLOR.  99 

duce  a  certain  degree  of  sorrow.  It  is  such  vocal  gymnastics 
as  this  by  certain  speakers  and  "  readers  "  that  render  their 
utterance  excruciating  to  a  sensible  mind  and  sensitive  ear. 
Attention  must  therefore  be  directed  mainly  to  awakening 
the  appropriate  emotions.  To  this  end  let  us  consider  two 
phases  of  tone-color:  (1)  word-coloring,  and  (2)  the  emo- 
tional setting,  or  "  atmosphere,"  of  a  paragraph  or  selection 
as  a  whole. 

Word-coloring.  —  In  the  formative  period  of  language 
development,  men  attempted  to  convey  a  given  picture  by 
imitative  sounds.  There  are  many  such  words  in  our  lan- 
guage, such  as  buzz,  swish,  hiss,  hum,  bang,  boom,  etc. 
Tone-color,  however,  while  it  may  include  onomatopoeia,  is 
a  great  deal  more  than  mere  imitation.  Its  use  is  to  mirror 
the  emotional  significance  of  words  over  and  beyond  their 
literal  signification.  Strong  men  infuse  into  their  work  a 
great  deal  of  their  own  spirit.  Likewise  strong  speakers ; 
their  words  are  charged  with  a  suggestion  and  meaning 
beyond  tin*  mere  sound. 

Says  Cicero,  in  his  Dr  Oratore,  "  The  tones  of  the  voice, 
like  musical  chords,  are  so  wound  up  as  to  be  responsive  to 
every  touch,  sharp,  Hat,  quick,  slow,  loud,  gentle.  Anger, 
fear,  violence,  pleasure,  trouble,  each  has  its  own  tone  for 
expression."  Now,  it  is  the  function  of  tone-color  to  show 
the  speaker's  responsiveness  to  the  emotional  touch.  Beauty 
of  sentiment  must  be  mirrored  by  melody  of  voice,  strong 
feeling  by  strength  of  voice,  tenderness  by  gentler  tones, 
and  so  on.  To  do  this,  the  most  that  can  be  said  by  way 
of  direction  is:  Dwell  upon  the  important  words,  and  allow 
time  for  the  emotion  to  express  itself.  Take  the  follow- 
ing from  Curtis's  eulogy  of  Phillips;  note  the  variety  in 
emotional  expression  and  aim  to  give  the  words  their  appro- 
priate tone-color. 


100  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 


Example. 

He  faced  his  audience  with  a  tranquil  mien,  and  a  beaming 
aspect  that  was  never  dimmed.  He  spoke,  and  in  the  measured 
cadence  of  his  quiet  voice  there  was  intense  feeling,  but  no  decla- 
mation, no  passionate  appeal,  no  superficial  or  feigned  emotion. 
It  was  simply  colloquy  —  a  gentleman  conversing.  And  this 
wonderful  power,  —  it  was  not  a  thunderstorm ;  yet  somehow 
and  surely  the  ear  and  heart  were  charmed.  How  was  it  done? 
Ah!  how  did  Mozart  do  it,  how  Raphael?  The  secret  of  the 
rose's  sweetness,  of  the  bird's  ecstasy,  of  the  sunset's  glory, — 
that  is  the  secret  of  genius  and  eloquence.  What  was  heard, 
what  was  seen,  was  the  form  of  noble  manhood,  the  courteous 
and  self-possessed  tone,  the  flow  of  modulated  speech,  sparkling 
with  richness  of  illustration,  with  apt  allusion  and  happy  anecdote 
and  historic  parallel,  with  wit  and  pitiless  invective,  with  melo- 
dious pathos,  with  stinging  satire,  with  crackling  epigram  and 
limpid  humor,  like  the  bright  ripples  that  play  around  the  sure 
and  steady  prow  of  the  resistless  ship.  The  divine  energy  of  his 
conviction  utterly  possessed  him,  and  his 

"  Pure  and  eloquent  blood 
Spoke  in  his  cheek  and  so  distinctly  wrought 

That  one  might  almost  say  his  body  thought." 

• 

The  "  Atmosphere "  of  the  Address.  —  Have  a  proper  per- 
spective of  the  thought  —  breathe  the  atmosphere,  and  so 
enter  into  the  spirit,  of  an  address  as  a  whole.  While 
the  emotions  within  an  address  are  often  complex,  now 
one  and  now  another  coming  to  the  surface,  there  is  usually 
some  one  emotion  that  represents  the  speaker's  purpose  and 
feeling,  and  dominates  the  address  as  a  whole.  "  The  whole 
must  have  that  toning  which  reveals  the  spirit  of  the 
whole."  Take,  for  example,  the  following  eulogy  of  the  old- 
time  Southern  gentleman,  by  Grady,  and  give  it  the  tone- 
color  to  voice  the  appropriate  emotion. 


TONE-COLOR.  101 


Example. 

Rome  one  has  said,  in  derision,  that  the  old  men  of  the  South, 
sitting  down  amid  their  ruins,  reminded  him  of  "  the  Spanish 
hidalgos  sitting  in  the  porches  of  the  Alhambra  and  looking  out 
to  sea  for  the  return  of  their  lost  Armada."  There  is  pathos  but 
no  derision  in  this  picture  to  me.  These  men  were  our  fathers. 
Their  lives  were  stainless.  Their  hands  were  daintily  cast,  and 
the  civilization  they  builded  in  tender  and  engaging  grace  hath  not 
been  equalled.  The  scenes  amid  which  they  moved,  as  princes 
among  men,  have  vanished  forever.  A  grosser  and  more  material 
day  has  come,  in  which  their  gentle  hands  can  garner  but  scantily, 
and  their  guileless  hearts  fend  but  feebly.  Let  me  sit,  therefore, 
in  the  dismantled  porches  of  their  homes,  into  which  dishonor 
hath  never  entered,  to  which  discourtesy  is  a  stranger,  and  gaze 
out  to  sea,  beyond  the  horizon  of  which  their  Armada  has  drifted 
forever.  And  though  the  sea  shall  not  render  back  to  them  the 
Argosies  which  went  down  in  their  ships,  let  us  build  for  them,  in 
the  land  they  loved  so  well,  a  stately  and  enduring  temple ;  its 
pillars  founded  in  justice,  its  arches  springing  to  the  skies,  its 
treasuries  filled  with  substance,  liberty  walking  in  its  corridors 
and  religion  filling  its  aisles  with  incense.  And  here  let  them  rest 
in  honorable  peace  and  tranquillity  until  God  shall  call  them  hence, 
to  "  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 

SUMMARY. 

Tone-color,  or  quality,  is  expressive  of  the  spiritual,  as  opposed 
to  the  literal,  signification  of  words,  Its  touchstone  is  sympathy, 
It  cannot  well  be  described  or  its  use  reduced  to  rules,  but  the  emo- 
tional content  of  words  should  be  appreciated  and  its  sympathetic 
rendering  acquired, 


CHAPTER  X. 

EAENESTNESS, 

The  Gauge  of  Success.  —  Earnestness  is  the  soul  of  oratory. 
It  manifests  itself  in  speech  by  animation,  wide-awakeness, 
strength,  force,  power,  as  opposed  to  listlessness,  timidity, 
half-heartedness,  uncertainty,  feebleness.  "  Earnestness  is 
that  intense  and  instinctive  nwliin^  out  for  the  part  in  the 
nature  of  another  man  which  is  awake  in  our  own."  1  \\'/n>n 
communicated  to  the  nmiit  ,,<-(>,  earnestness  is,  after  all  i 
and  done,  the  touchstone  of  success  in  public  speaking,  as 
it  is  in  other  things  in  life. 

Essentials  of  Earnestness.  —  Earnestness  comes,  if  it  come 
at  all,  from  a  thorough  knowledge  of  your  subject,  from  a 
sincere  faith  in  that  subject,  and  from  a  determination  to 
implant  in  others  that  knowledge  and  that  faith.  These 
three  essential  conditions  of  earnestness  are  applicable  to  all 
kinds  of  speech-making,  be  it  a  declamation,  a  memorized 
speech  or  oration,  or  an  extemporaneous  address. 

Special  means  for  creating  and  replenishing  the  first  two 
essentials  have  been  suggested  in  Chapter  I,  but  two  points 
may  again  be  stressed  here  :  — 

(1)  Previous  study  may  give  you  clear  ideas  as  to  the 
thought,  and  you  may  thoroughly  believe  them,  but  while 
this  is  essential,  it  is  not  enough:  There  must  be,  at  the 
moment  of  their  utterance,  a  vivid  conception  of  the  thought 

1  Curry :  Vocal  Expression,  p.  254. 
102 


EARNESTNESS.  103 

and  a  strong  belief  in  the  ideas  conveyed.  The  ideas  and 
emotions  must  be  re-created  in  the  act  of  speaking.  Only  in 
this  way  can  "thoughts  that  breathe"  find  expression  in 
"  words  that  burn." 

(2)  If,  as  is  often  desirable  in  the  early  stages  of  train- 
ing, you  are  to  deliver  a  declamation,  select  one  that  will 
induce  earnestness.  Take  a  subject  in  which  you  are  inter- 
ested, and  in  which  you  want  and  expect  to  interest  your 
audience.  If  you  are  in  earnest,  you  will  avoid  anything  \ 
that  is  purely  humorous  or  trivial.  Beware  of  the  ex- 
travagant, dramatic  compositions  often  found  in  books  of 
"Choice  Selections."  Good  literature  only  is  worthy  of 
study  and  memorizing.  Seek  something  of  present  interest 
to  the  audience.  Selections  from  speeches  published  in  the 
daily  papers,  articles  in  current  periodicals,  or  extracts  from 
the  published  speeches  of  modern  orators,  are  usually  the 
best.  If  a  book  of  selections  is  used,  do  not  fail  to  look 
up  the  source  of  the  extract  chosen  and  learn  the  author's 
full  meaning  and  original  purpose.  Then  make  the  thought 
your  own  and  give  it  as  your  own.  "If  I  were  speaking 
something  of  my  own,"  a  student  is  often  heard  to  remark, 
"I  could  speak  more  earnestly."  If  this  is  really  true, 
write  out  the  thought  and  give  it  in  your  own  language. 
If,  however,  the  method  of  preparation  here  recommended 
be  adopted,  a  student  is  not  apt  to  speak  any  more  ear- 
nestly with  an  original  production  than  with  the  words  of 
another. 

Again,  earnestness  is  often  attained  by  a  proper  exercise 
of  the  will.  Of  course,  the  ideal  earnestness  comes  from 
the  speaker's  interest  in  his  hearers  and  self-abandonment 
to  his  subject ;  but  there  is  such  a  thing  as  willing  earnest- 
ness into  his  speech,  —  compelling  attention  and  awakening 
emotion.  A  speaker  at  times  finds  it  necessary  to  command 
an  earnestness  which  does  not  come  otherwise.  Teachers 


104  PUBLIC  SPEAKIXG. 

of  oratory  sometimes  find  that  by  probing  a  student's 
dormant  mental  and  emotional  faculties  until  he  becomes 
indignant  at  the  teacher  or  at  himself,  he  will  then  begin 
to  speak.  Learn  to  do  your  own 'probing,  if  necessary. 
Realize  your  opportunity,  your  power  to  choose  what  shall 
have  expression.  Choose.  Realize  that  your  will  can  com- 
mand expression  for  what  you  dictate,  and  for  nothing  else. 
Shall  a  listless,  feeble  expression  at  your  lips  belie  the  honest 
impulses  of  your  heart,  which  you  are  not  able  to  force  into 
expression?  Conquer  such  weakness  by  will-power. 

The  Occasion.  —  Do  not  let  earnestness  depend  upon  the 
occasion,  but  master  the  occasion  through  earnestness.  True, 
one  audience  will  incite  earnestness,  while  the  same  speech 
to  another  audience  may  fall  flat.  The  atmosphere  of  the 
particular  occasion  reacts  powerfully  upon  the  speaker. 
Speaking  to  a  small,  scattered  audience,  with  stragglers 
loitering  in  and  out  at  the  doors,  is  a  very  different  matter 
from  speaking  to  a  crowded  house.  And,  too,  audiences  have 
what  may  be  called  a  composite  individuality  that  effects  the 
speaker  for  weal  or  woe. 

This  interplay  of  influence  between  the  speaker  and  his 
audience  has  its  advantages  and  its  dangers.  If  the  occa- 
sion is  fortunately  inspiring,  the  speaker  will  yield  himself 
to  it,  and  often  finds  himself  surpassing  his  preparation 
and  himself  —  outdoing  himself.  Only  he  who  has  ex- 
perienced it  knows  the  exhilaration  and  exquisite  pleasure 
that  comes  to  the  speaker  on  such  occasions,  when  he  carries 
his  audience  with  him  to  invigorating  heights  and  inspiring 
views.  More  frequently,  however,  the  occasion  is  as  the 
Valley  of  Despair,  and  the  danger  is,  that  the  speaker  may 
despair  of  getting  through  successfully.  Herein  lies  the 
folly  of  trusting  to  the  inspiration  of  the  audience :  the 
audience  may  refuse  to  furnish  inspiration.  In  such  a 


EARNESTNESS.  105 

case  there  is  nothing  for  the  speaker  to  do  but  inspire 
himself  and,  in  turn,  his  audience.  Not  easy  ?  Of  course 
not.  Here  again  the  speaker  needs  to  exercise  his  will 
power.  Master  the  situation:  this  is  the  criterion  for  suc- 
cess in  life,  and  public  speaking  is  no  exception.  The 
speaker  that  cannot  do  this  is  a  creature  of  impulse  purely, 
and  has  not  his  powers  under  control. 

In  their  attitude  toward  the  speaker,  audiences  may  be 
classified  as  interested,  indifferent,  critical,  or  hostile.  If 
the  audience  is  interested,  the  speaker  has  easy  sailing.  He 
can  begin  his  speech  on  a  plane  to  which,  under  other  cir- 
cumstances, he  must  needs  rise ;  and  all  that  is  required  is 
to  maintain  the  interest. 

Oftentimes  audiences  are  more  or  less  indifferent.  The 
unuttered  attitude  is,  "  If  you  have  anything  worth  listen- 
ing to  and  can  say  it  in  an  interesting  manner,  very  well; 
otherwise  we  don't  care  to  hear  you."  Such  an  occasion  is 
the  speaker's  opportunity.  He  must  conquer  this  indiffer- 
ence by  his  earnestness,  —  cause  fhe  listless  to  wake  up  and 
become  aroused,  the  thoughtless  to  think,  the  doubter  to  be- 
lieve, and  all  to  become  infected  with  his  own  earnestness. 

The  critical  audience  is  the  most  trying  one  to  address,  — 
to  most  speakers  more  trying  than  a  hostile  audience.  An 
audience  may  be  critical  toward  the  speaker  or  toward  his 
subject.  If  the  latter,  the  problem  is  to  work  out  the  best 
method  of  approach  to  his  subject,  —  a  matter  with  which, 
attain,  we  are  not  now  primarily  dealing.  If  the  audience 
is  critical  toward  the  speaker,  he  must  present  his  ideas 
with  such  earnestness  as  to  disarm  criticism,  directing 
the  attention  of  the  hearers  from  himself  to  his  subject. 
The  burden  of  his  plea  must  be,  "  Hear  me  for  my  cause ! " 

This  critical  attitude  of  an  audience,  the  school  or  college 
speaker  must  frequently  meet  and  master.  In  practising 
for  skill,  the  consciousness  of  a  critic  or  critics  among  the 


106  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

hearers  is  a  severe  test  of  the  speaker's  earnestness.  The 
student  becomes  afflicted  with  self-consciousness ;  sometimes 
the  sense  of  the  incongruous  is  overmastering;  an  address 
that  he  spoke  earnestly,  it  may  be,  to  an  imaginary  audience 
in  his  room,  he  finds  difficulty  in  delivering  earnestly  in  a 
class  exercise.  The  difficulty,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  a  real 
one,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  it  cannot  be  overcome. 
Indeed,  the  very  fact  that  it  can  be  overcome  should  lead 
the  speaker  to  summon  all  his  powers  in  the  way  of  ear- 
nestness. There  is  this  encouraging  feature :  students  in 
oratory,  while  they  are  quick  to  detect  poor  speaking,  are 
also  quick  to  recognize  good  speaking. 

As  to  the  seeming  incongruity  of  speaking  before  a  teacher 
alone,  this,  too,  can  be  eliminated  by  training  and  practice. 
The  student  with  the  oratorical  or  dramatic  instinct  finds 
no  great  difficulty  in  imaginatively  peopling  the  empty  seats, 
as  Henry  Clay  found  an  audience  in  the  forest  trees.  Under 
such  circumstances  —  under  all  circumstances  —  it  should 
be  remembered  that  it  is  always  easy  to  speak  according  to 
habit,  be  the  habit  good  or  bad.  The  faults  that  appear  in 
the  class  room  usually  characterize  the  student's  delivery  on 
other  occasions.  Granting  that  the  circumstances  mentioned 
do  make  earnestness  difficult,  it  is  all  the  more  valuable 
training  for  more  propitious  occasions.  The  best  training 
for  speaking  earnestly  on  all  occasions  is  to  speak  earnestly 
on  the  least  favorable  occasions.  The  well-trained  speaker, 
as  the  well-trained  actor,  will  not  fail,  though  his  audience 
does. 

Rarely  does  the  young  speaker  meet  a  hostile  audience, 
and  in  any  event  so  much  depends  upon  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances that  directions  are  impracticable.  The  speaker's 
purpose  is,  of  course,  to  master  such  an  audience.  He  may 
do  this  by  placating  at  first,  or  by  the  majesty  of  moral 
courage.  Beecher  at  Liverpool  said  the  unexpected  thing, 


EARNESTNESS.  107 

and  appealed  to  the  sense  of  fair  play.  Phillips  at  Faneuu 
Hall  threw  down  the  gauge  of  battle  and  hurled  the  invec- 
tive of  which  he  was  a  master.  When  an  audience  perceives 
that  a  speaker  will  not  be  downed,  there  gradually  develops 
the  feeling,  if  no  sinister  motive  lies  back  of  the  hostility, 
that  he  ought  not  to  be  downed;  and  "He  is  God's  own 
anointed  king,"  says  Carlyle,  "who  melts  all  wills  into 
his." 

Relation  to  Technique.  —  It  may  be  asked,  and  frequently 
is  asked,  by  the  student,  "  How  can  I  think  of  so  many 
things  at  once  ?  How  can  I  think  about  how  I  am  carrying 
myself,  or  using  my  voice,  and  at  the  same  time  think  of 
the  ideas  and  respond  to  the  emotions  —  be  in  earnest  ?  " 

In  Chapter  II  it  was  shown  that  drill  in  technique  should 
lead  to  an  unconscious  habit.  One  should  never  have  his 
art  on  exhibition.  The  highest  art  is  to  conceal  art.  But 
while  his  technique  must  never  be  uppermost  in  the  field  of 
consciousness,  the  trained  speaker  will  always  have  a  sub- 
consciousness  as  to  whether  or  not  his  thought  is  finding 
effective  expression.  He  will  know  what  he  is  about.  He 
will  know  what  he  should  be  doing,  and  know  if  he  is  doing 
it.  There  should  be  a  coordination  of  thought,  emotion,  and 
will.  The  relative  amount  of  attention  that  should  be  paid 
to  each  of  these  elements  will  vary  with  the  individual. 
One  student  is  all  emotion ;  he  needs  to  stress  the  mental 
aspects  of  his  address.  Another  is  coldly  intellectual ;  he 
needs  to  stimulate  his  imagination  and  cultivate  the  senti- 
mental, emotional  side  of  his  being.  Another  is  knock- 
kneed  —  has  not  the  courage  of  his  convictions ;  he  needs 
to  cultivate  more  will  power. 

The  will  should  also  be  exercised  in  directing  earnestness 
through  proper  channels.  Self-consciousness  comes  from  a 
clogging  of  the  natural  channels  of  expression.  "  Forget 


108  PUBLIC 

about  yourself  and  think  only  of  your  subject"  is  a  common 
direction  that  needs  qualifying.  Forget  about  yourself  in 
one  sense,  it  may  be ;  but  know  what  you  are  doing  with 
voice  and  body.  Do  you  say  they  will  take  care  of  them- 
selves ?  Perhaps  so  —  and  perhaps  not.  We  have  all 
heard  speakers  when  we  wished  a  kind  Providence  would 
remind  them  of  themselves.  Of  course  the  speaker  is  not 
to  indulge  in  vocal  or  physical  gymnastics  on  the  platform, 
nor  is  he  by  any  means  to  give  the  detailed  attention  to 
technique  which  has  been  given  earlier  in  this  book.  But, 
I  repeat,  he  is  to  know  what  he  is  doing;  if  his  voice  is 
way  up,  to  bring  it  down ;  if  he  is  yelling,  to  return  to  a 
normal  force.  Now,  this  knowing  what  you  are  about,  this 
sub-consciousness,  is  not  incompatible  with  the  most  sincere 
earnestness :  it  is  earnestness  in  its  highest  sense,  for  it  is 
the  method  of  a  rational  being.  Emerson  refers  to  this 
coordination  of  mind,  emotion,  and  will  when  he  says  that 
"  the  truly  eloquent  [earnest]  man  is  a  sane  man  with  power 
to  communicate  his  sanity." 

Earnestness  the  Expression  of  Character.  —  Earnestness 
may  be  stimulated  and  directed  by  the  mind,  the  emotions, 
and  the  will,  but  the  speaker  cannot  give  more  than  he  has ; 
he  cannot  express  more  than  he  is.  Earnestness  cannot  be 
feigned,  for  an  audience  soon  distinguishes  the  true  coin 
from  the  counterfeit.  Surely  art  alone  will  never  make  an 
effective  speaker.  Some  would-be  orators  go  to  a  teacher  of 
oratory  when  they  should  be  seeking  a  minister.  "  There 
can  be  no  true  eloquence,"  says  Emerson,  "  unless  there  is  a 
man  behind  the  speech."  True  eloquence  springs  from  the 
moral  nature.  Hence  Christ,  who  spake  as  never  man  spake, 
represents  the  ideal  in  oratory,  as  He  does  in  conduct. 
The  history  of  oratory  shows  that  it  has  flourished  at 
those  times  when  great  moral  questions  were  at  stake, — 


EARNESTNESS.  109 

injustice  to  be  resented,  a  reform  to  be  instituted,  —  and 
that  its  exponents  were  men  terribly  in  earnest ;  that  "  its 
great  masters,"  to  quote  Emerson  again,  "  whilst  they  valued 
every  help  to  its  attainment,  and  thought  no  pains  too  great 
which  contributed  in  any  manner  to  further  it,  ...  yet 
never  permitted  any  talent  —  neither  voice  rhythm,  poetic 
power,  sarcasm  —  to  appear  for  show ;  but  were  grave  men, 
who  preferred  their  integrity  to  their  talent,  and  esteemed 
that  object  for  which  they  toiled,  whether  the  prosperity 
of  their  country,  or  the  laws,  or  a  reformation,  or  liberty  of 
speech,  or  of  the  press,  or  letters,  or  morals,  as  above  the 
whole  world,  and  themselves  also." 

SUMMARY. 

We  have  seen  that  earnestness,  communicated  to  the  audience, 
is  essential  to  effective  public  speaking;  that  earnestness  may  be 
acquired  through  study  of  and  belief  in  the  subject-matter  of  a 
speech,  and  its  expression  aided  by  the  use  of  the  will ;  that  prac- 
tice in  the  technique  of  delivery  is  not  incompatible  with  the  most 
sincere  earnestness;  and  lastly,  that  the  character  of  a  speech  is 
limited,  as  regards  its  earnestness,  to  the  character  of  the  speaker. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PHYSICAL  EABNESTNESS  — GESTUEE, 

Expression  by  Action.  —  We  now  approach  the  second 
means  of  expression,  that  effected  by  action ;  for  while 
other  arts  appeal  to  but  one  of  the  senses,  speech  appeals 
to  both  the  ear  and  the  eye.  Avoid  it  as  we  will,  that  part 
of  public  speaking  that  appeals  to  the  eye  is  a  most  im- 
portant part,  and  is  too  often  sadly  neglected.  Were  it  not 
important, — nay,  essential,  —  then  the  speaker  had  a> 
speak  behind  a  screen,  and  there  would  be  no  cause  for  that 
instinctive  desire  on  the  part  of  all  listeners  to  see  the 
speaker.  The  public  speaker  cannot,  if  he  would,  escape 
the  public  gaze.  His  action,  therefore,  his  carriage,  bearing, 
physical  control,  poise,  play  of  features,  in  short,  his  whole 
bodily  expression,  —  may  powerfully  aid  or  mar  his  expres- 
sion by  voice.  This,  in  its  broad  sense,  is  gesture.  It  is 
a  "  physical  action  caused  by  psychic  activity."  It  is  that 
part  of  delivery  that  speaks  to  the  eye.  The  student  of 
speaking  must  therefore  answer  such  questions  as  these: 
How  do  you  carry  yourself?  Do  you  stand  up  or  slouch? 
Have  you  a  graceful  carriage  and  pleasing  bearing  ?  Is 
your  body  the  servant  of  your  soul,  as  it  should  be,  or  is 
your  soul  cramped  and  buffeted  by  a  listless,  uncontrolled 
body?  If  you  have  riot,  like  O'Connell,  the  "stature  of 
Apollo,"  or,  like  Webster,  a  "precipice  of  brow,  with  eyes 
glowing  like  anthracite  coal,"  —  even  if  you  have  not  a  com- 
manding physique,  are  you  making  the  best  possible  use  of 
the  physique  that  you  have  ?  In  considering  means  of  ex- 

110 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS — GESTURE.          Ill 

pression,  then,  we  must  not  overlook  that  element  commonly 
known  as  physical  earnestness. 

Physical  Earnestness.  —  We  have  seen  the  importance  in 
speech  of  mental  and  moral  earnestness.  Now,  for  the 
adequate  expression  of  such  earnestness,  the  speaker  must 
also  have  physical  earnestness.  By  this  is  meant  having 
the  body  awake.  It  is  the  quality  referred  to  by  Webster 
when  he  speaks  of  "  the  high  purpose,  the  firm  resolve,  the 
dauntless  spirit,  speaking  on  the  tongue,  beaming  from  the 
eye,  informing  every  feature,  and  urging  the  whole  man 
onward,  right  onward  to  his  object."  To  be  thus  urged 
onward,  the  whole  man  wide  awake,  is  an  element,  or  an 
accompaniment,  of  effective  speaking.  Mental  and  emo- 
tional states,  we  know,  react  upon  the  physical,  and  vice 
versa.  It  is  a  contradiction  in  nature  for  one  to  be  mentally 
and  emotionally  awake  and  physically  asleep,  yet  with 
speakers  such  is  often  the  case.  In  his  Before  an  Audience, 
the  Kev.  Nathan  Sheppard  —  whose  whole  theory  of  learn- 
ing to  speak,  by  the  way,  is  that  the  speaker  needs  only  to 
bring  his  will  to  bear  upon  his  faults  —  has  an  excellent 
chapter  on  physical  earnestness,  from  which  the  following 
is  an  extract :  — 

With  an  adequate  use  of  his  will,  an  adequate  knowing  of  what 
he  is  about,  the  speaker  will  make  a  right  use  of  his  physical 
organization — will  be  physically,  as  well  as  morally  or  spiritually, 
in  earnest.  .  .  .  We  are  always  to  bear  in  mind  that  an  im- 
pression is  produced  by  the  speaker  quite  apart  from  and  often  in 
spite  of  the  words  he  utters.  It  is  a  mesmeric  influence,  it  is 
feeling,  reflection,  thought  produced  by  the  animal  galvanic  battery 
on  two  legs.  .  .  .  Never  allow  yourself  to  go  physically  to 
sleep  if  you  expect  to  keep  yourself  mentally  awake. 

A  good  preacher  once  asked  me  what  I  thought  he  needed 
most  to  make  his  speaking  more  effective.  "  Put  one  thing  into 
your  style,"  I  said,  "and  I'll  let  you  off."  "What  is  that?" 


112  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

*•  Vivacity."  He  had  an  excellent  bass  voice  and  unexceptional 
manners,  but  he  was  monotonously  orotund,  and  getting  more  and 
more  so.  Vivacity  would  improve  his  oratory  and  prolong  his 
pastorate.  He  could  secure  it,  not  by  forgetting  himself  and  think- 
ing only  of  his  subject,  —  that  he  had  done  for  twenty  years,  —  or 
by  five-dollar  lessons  in  imitative  elocution, — those  he  had  tried 
to  his  cost,  —  he  could  secure  vivacity  by  willing  it  into  his  style. 
The  way  to  be  vivacious  is  to  be  vivacious.  The  education  is  all 
done  upon  one  side  of  the  man,  —  the  intellectual  side, — and  it 
fails  from  not  getting  something  in  the  way  of  "  earnest "  educa- 
tion on  the  physical  side,  —  the  outside,  —  which  it  is  the  fashion 
to  look  upon  as  the  lower  side.  .  .  . 

Straighten  up  and  keep  yourself  straight.  Walk  upright  The 
"  shoulder-braces  "  are  of  no  use  except  to  suggest  bracing  yourself 
up.  They  will  not  keep  your  shoulders  back,  but  they  will  make 
you  keep  your  shoulders  back.  They  jog  the  will.  When  you 
straighten  up  for  the  first  time  you  will  find  that  your  clothes 
do  not  fit  you.  .  .  .  This  physical  discipline  will  suggest  and 
promote  physical  self-respect,  and  that  in  turn  will  promote  moral 
self-respect.  The  attitude  of  dignity  dignifies  the  feeling. 
Straightening  the  spine  stiffens  the  moral  vertebra.  The  self-dis- 
trustful speaker  is  helped  by  a  confident  demeanor.  Try  it. 

True  physical  earnestness  is  something  more  than  physical 
energy.  Such  energy  must  be  held  in  proper  reserve  and 
directed  by  the  will.  When  so  held  and  directed,  it  becomes 
physical  control ;  and  just  as  the  highest  form  of  earnest- 
ness is  self-control,  so  the  highest  form  of  physical  earnest- 
ness is  physical  control.  It  will  depend  upon  the  individual 
as  to  whether  he  needs  physical  excitation  or  repression. 
To  check  energy  is,  however,  always  easier  than  to  excite 
it.  It  is  therefore  best,  as  a  general  rule,  to  give  enthusiasm 
vent  and  cut  loose.  "  Something  may  come  of  this,  whereas 
nothing  can  come  from  doing  nothing;"  and  "no  man," 
says  Edward  Everett  Hale,  "  will  ever  become  a  speaker 
until  he  is  willing  to  make  a  fool  of  himself  for  the  sake  of 
his  subject." 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS — GESTURE.          113 


Let  us  see  some  of  the  ways  in  which  physical  earnestness 
manifests  itself  in  the  act  of  speaking. 


The  Expression  of  Physical  Earnestness. 

1.  Approaching  the  Audience.  The  moment  that  you  rise 
to  walk  upon  the  platform,  or  to  step  out  before  the  audi- 
ence, as  the  case  may  be,  you  begin  to  speak  —  with  the 
body.  Self-mastery  and  self-poise  at  this  point  will  go  far 
toward  winning  your  audience.  In  this  position,  what  do 
you  most  need  ?  First  and  foremost,  the  right  mental  atti- 
tude toward  the  audience.  What  is  that  ?  First,  realize  the 
importance  of  the  occasion,  —  for  any  occasion  is  important 
that  calls  a  number  of  persons  to  hear  you  speak:  you 
should  therefore  be  dignified.  Secondly,  being  prepared 
with  something  that  you  very  much  want  to  say  to  that 
audience,  you  are  interested  in  the  subject-matter  of  your 
speech:  you^will  therefore  show  this  interest  by  a  direct, 
businesslike,  animated  carriage.  Thirdly,  common  courtesy 
will  impel  you  to  be  thankful  to  the  audience  for  this  oppor- 
tunity to  deliver  your  message :  therefore  your  bearing  will 
be  deferential.  With  such  a  mental  attitude  toward  your 
subject  and  the  occasion,  you  will  bow  respectfully  to  the 
presiding  officer,  if  there  be  one,  and  walk  easily  and  directly 
to  where  you  begin  speaking.  This  walk  should  be  neither 
a  mincing  step  nor  a  stride ;  neither  the  walk  of  a  soldier 
on  the  march,  nor  the  shuffling  gait  of  the  aged  and  infirm ; 
nor  should  it  be  a  sort  of  a  catlike  tread  taken  by  speakers 
who  seem  to  be  trying  to  approach  the  audience  unobserved. 
It  should  be  that  easy,. dignified,  upright  walk  that  denotes 
that  the  speaker  knows  what  he  is  there  for,  and  is  not  mak- 
ing any  fuss  over  getting  to  the  proper  place  for  speaking. 
He  stops  and  —  bows?  That  depends  upon  the  formality 
of  the  occasion,  or  the  amount  of  " enthusiastic  applause" 


114  PUBLIC  SPEAKI\<;. 

that  greets  him.  Nowadays  the  bow  to  the  audience  is  often 
given  only  at  the  close  —  a  bow  of  thanks,  on  retiring —  in 
token  of  the  speaker's  appreciation.  But  in  any  event,  look 
about  at  your  audience  for  a  moment,  thus  asking  their  atten- 
tion to  what  you  have  to  say.  Accustom  yourself  to  look 
calmly  and  directly  at  the  audience;  this  is  half  of  the 
battle  at  this  point.  If  control  is  difficult,  take  a  deep 
breath  before  beginning  to  speak.  Assume  an  attitude  of 
physical  ease;  and  having  taken  that  position,  do  not  shuf- 
fle the  feet.  You  are  told  to  stand  so  that  "a  plumb-line 
dropped  from  the  chin  would  pass  through  the  heel  of  the 
left  foot ;  "  but  realize  your  business  and  your  dignity,  and 
never  mind  the  plumb-line.  Stand  up!  the  hips  thrown 
back,  the  chest  forward,  representing  the  Delsarte  principle 
of  "  strength  in  repose."  This  erect  position,  with  the 
easily  poised,  is  the  natural  position  in  the  "  repose  "  of  the 
public  speaker.  It  signifies  earnestness  and  the  serenity  of 
conscious  power.  Begin  speaking  deliberately,  easily,  ami 
clearly.  After  talking  a  moment  to  one  portion  of  the 
audience,  turn  and  speak  to  another  portion. 

This  much,  together  with  some  simple  directions  that 
follow  later,  may  properly  be  said  to  the  beginner;  but 
beware  of  directions  for  "toeing  a  line"  and  measuring 
the  proper  "angle  between  the  feet,"  for  the  speaker's 
carriage  cannot  be  assumed  by  rule.  It  results  from  the 
mental  attitude  and  one's  all-round  physical  training. 

2.  Carriage.  The  normal,  fair-weather  attitude  that 
characterizes  an  easy  and  graceful  carriage  has  been  de- 
scribed above.  For  the  most  part  the  body  is  left  in 
easy  poise,  so  the  weight  may  be  easily  shifted  from  one 
foot  to  the  other.  As  has  been  said,  much  depends  upon 
the  mind.  Cultivate  the  feeling  of  ease,  and  let  the  carriage 
adjust  itself  to  this  feeling.  This  adjustment  to  a  feeling  of 
easy  poise  will  keep  you  from  straddling,  or  standing  rigid 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS  —  GESTURE.          115 

as  though  the  feet  were  glued  to  the  floor  and  the  knees  had 
no  joints  in  them,  or  swaying  the  body  constantly  from  one 
foot  to  the  other,  or  sagging  down  on  one  hip. 

Along  with  the  acquirement  of  this  easy  poise,  form  the 
habit  from  the  outset  of  letting  the  arms  and  hands  hang 
easily  at  your  side.  This  may  seem  awkward  at  first.  You 
are  apt  to  be  painfully  conscious  of  these  appendages,  and 
the  first  impulse  is  to  get  them  out  of  the  way.  But  by 
compelling  yourself  to  let  your  arms  and  hands  go,  an 
unconsciousness  of  them  will  in  time  come  that  will  never 
come  from  trying  to  do  something  else  with  them.  Do  not 
fold  them  behind  the  back  or  in  front  of  you;  do  not  dig 
them  into  your  clothing;  do  not  employ  them  in  fumbling 
your  watch  chain  or  adjusting  your  cuffs  ;  and,  above  all,  do 
not  thrust  them  into  your  pockets,  —  it  is  not  dignified,  and 
is  a  signal  of  nervousness  to  the  audience. 

The  importance  of  a  speaker's  bearing  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. We  know  the  importance  in  conversation  of 
a  pleasing  bearing,  of  an  animated  and  mobile  facial  ex- 
pression. It  is  quite  as  important  in  the  enlarged  and 
heightened,  conversation  of  public  speech.  How  an  arro- 
gant, conceited  bearing  repels,  and  a  sympathetic,  modest, 
deferential  bearing  attracts !  How  an  uncertain  bearing 
disturbs,  and  how  a  confident  bearing  imparts  ease  to  the 
audience !  Now,  here  again  it  should  be  borne  in  "mind 
that  bearing,  as  a  phase  of  physical  expression,  is  —  or 
should  be  —  the  outward  manifestation  of  inward  states. 
We  must  therefore  set  aright  the  inward  states.  What 
should  be  the  proper  mental  attitude  that  is  indicated  by 
one's  bearing?  First,  since  public  speaking  has  for  its 
primary  purpose  the  communication  of  thought,  the  speaker 
should  consciously  assume  and  maintain  the  communicative 
attitude.  Such  a  mental  attitude  will  result  in  the  physical 
attitude  of  directness.  Face  your  audience  squarely.  Do  not 


116  PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

speak  over  one  shoulder.  Do  not  look  at  the  floor,  or  at  the 
ceiling,  or  out  of  the  window,  or  anywhere  but  at  the  audi- 
ence. This  habit,  trying  in  conversation,  is  exasperating  in 
public  speaking.  Your  business  is  with  your  audience,  and 
it  is  your  business  to  make  them  realize  this  fact.  More- 
over, to  look  directly  at  your  audience  is  one  of  the  best 
cures  for  stage-fright,  for  it  takes  the  speaker's  attention 
from  himself  and  puts  it  where  it  should  be  —  on  getting  the 
thought  from  his  own  mind  into  the  minds  of  his  heaivrs. 
In  doing  this  the  eyes  are  constantly  saying  to  the  heaivrs, 
"I  am  speaking  to  you,  and  you,  and  you."  Now,  this  does 
not  mean  singling  out  any  individual  in  the  sense  of  recog- 
nizing him,  but  it  means  keeping  the  audience  within  the 
range  of  vision.  In  this  connection,  avoid  showing  a  par- 
tiality for  one  group  of  hearers  to  the  exclusion  of  others. 
Look  about,  while  looking  at,  the  audience.  Do  not  shift 
the  eyes  capriciously,  but  do  it  deliberately  and  easily,  as 
the  natural  thing  to  do.  And  turn  the  body  with  the  eyes, 
—  not  the  head  alone,  nor  the  trunk  alone,  but  the  whole 


Karely  should  the  speaker'^eyes  leave  the   audience. 
The  actor  talks  with  others  on  t  .  the  public  speaker 

carries  on  a  one-sided  dialogue  with  the  audience  only. 
The  actor  may  occasionally  even  turn  his  back  to  the 
audience;  the  public  speaker,  never.  True,  he  may  at 
times,  in  picturing  a  scene  or  describing  an  object,  turn 
the  eyes  momentarily  from  the  audience,  but  only  momen- 
tarily. In  such  a  case  the  eyes  play  back  and  forth  from 
the  picture  or  object  to  the  audience,  and  are  all  the  time 
saying,  Do  you  see  it  ?  The  impersonation  of  the  actor  or 
dramatic  reader  is  rarely  to  be  employed  by  the  public 
speaker.  To  turn  away  at  any  length  from  the  audience 
indicates  a  wrong  mental  attitude  and  is  apt  to  give  the 
impression  of  artificiality.  The  speaker  who  has  and  main- 


PHYSICAL  EARNESTNESS — GESTURE.  117 

tains  the  communicative  attitude  will  speak  to,  not  before, 
his  audience.  He  will  objectify  his  thought,  not  soliloquize. 
He  will  centre  his  attention  in  his  audience,  not  in  himself. 
Further,  such  an  attitude  will  be  characterized  by  good  will 
toward  his  audience.  The  speaker  takes  the  audience  into 
his  confidence.  This  in  turn  inspires  confidence  on  the 
part  of  the  audience,  and  a  mutual  sympathy  is  established. 
Thus  will  result  a  bearing  deferential  though  dignified,  con- 
fiding though  confident.  Thus  the  speaker's  bearing  becomes 
an  important  aspect  of  physical  earnestness. 

This  communicative  attitude  being  taken,  this  sympa- 
thetic relation  between  yourself  and  your  audience  being 
established,  do  nothing  to  destroy  or  mar  it.  Herein  the 
instruction  must  be  largely  negative.  No  one  can  or  should, 
in  the  act  of  speaking,  be  giving  his  chief  attention  to  this 
or  that  peccadillo  regarding  his  carriage  or  bearing,  but 
certain  common  bad  habits  should  receive  attention  and  be 
willed  out  of  one's  speaking.  The  point  is,  every  movement 
that  a  speaker  makes  means  —  or  should  mean  —  some- 
thing. Hence  avoid  indulging  in  movements  which  are 
purely  habit  and  which  mean  nothing.  One  will  naturally 
move  the  body  slightly,  as  we  have  seen,  as  he  turns  from 
one  portion  of  the  audience  to  another.  He  will  move  still 
more,  stepping  backward  or  forward  (not  hitching  sideways), 
at  his  transitions.  But  do  not  be  constantly  moving;  it 
makes  the  audience  also  restless.  Do  not  walk  back  and 
forth  along  the  edge  of  the  platform  like  a  caged  lion.  Do 
not  shrug  your  shoulders,  or  twist  your  mouth,  or  make 
faces.  Note  how  the  water-drinking  or  handkerchief  habit 
will  distract  the  attention  of  an  audience;  the  thought  is, 
when  will  the  speaker  take  another  drink  or  next  grasp 
his  handkerchief  ?  If  the  distracting  cause  is  beyond  the 
speaker's  control,  circumstances  must  of  course  determine 
the  course  of  action,  but  the  mistake  is  often  made  of 


118  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

attempting  to  ignore  things  that  an  audience  will  not  ignore. 
During  the  opening  song  at  a  recent  olnm-h  service  the 
minister  dropped  his  glasses.  He  began  preaching  ex- 
temporaneously, presently  started  to  consult  his  notes,  and 
then  seemed  first  to  miss  the  glasses.  He  kept  on  slowly 
with  the  introductory  exegesis  of  his  text,  meanwhile  on 
a  still  hunt  for  the  glasses.  He  raised  the  Bible  —  not 
there.  He  felt  in  all  his  pockets.  He  scanned  the  floor, 
and  finally  saw  where  they  had  fallen.  Then  he  gradually 
edged  toward  them  —  all  the  while  speaking  —  and  finally, 
at  the  end  of  a  long  sentence,  dove  down  and  brought  them 
up,  like  a  fish-hawk  his  prey,  and  the  congregation  breathed 
a  common  sigh  of  relief.  The  preacher's  composure  was 
more  admirable  than  his  judgment.  Before  the  search  had 
proceeded  far,  the  whole  congregation  had  forsaken  the 
sermon  and  joined  in  the  search  for  the  glasses.  It  would 
have  been  far  better  to  have  stopped,  hunted  up  the  glasses, 
and  then  proceeded  with  the  sermon.  So,  if  a  window  is  to 
be  opened  or  closed,  or  a  dog  removed,  let  the  speaker,  when 
possible,  join  the  audience  in  watching  the  proceeding,  and 
then  proceed  with  the  speech. 

Gesture. — If  the  speaker  be  physically  in  earnest,  what 
is  commonly  known  as  gesture  should  not  seriously  trouble 
him.  Reference  is  now  made  to  gesture  in  its  narrower 
sense,  the  use  of  the  arms  and  hands  as  an  aid  in  em- 
phasizing or  suggesting  the  thought  There  has  probably 
been  more  nonsense  written  about  gesture  in  manuals  of 
elocution  than  about  any  other  one  thing  connected  with 
delivery.  We  are  told,  for  example,  that  this  or  that 
mental  or  emotional  state  is  represented  by  "  hand  supine '" 
or  "  hand  prone."  The  body  is  divided  into  "  spheres  "  or 
"zones,"  and  we  are  told  that  gestures  made  below  the 
waist  line  denote  the  lower  passions,  and  those  above  the 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS — GESTURE.         119 

shoulder  the  higher  passions.  Elaborate  charts  are  given 
to  indicate  the  action  of  various  parts  of  the  body  in  ex- 
pressing various  emotions.  In  such  a  chart,  prepared  by 
the  professor  of  oratory  in  a  prominent  Eastern  university, 
forty-four  emotions  are  listed.  We  are  told,  for  example, 
that  "  Appeal  to  Conscience  "  is  indicated  by  "  head  thrown 
forward,  eyes  and  brows  looking  forward,  lips  and  counte- 
nance earnest,  trunk  erect,  one  hand  on  breast,  lower  limbs 
erect,  movements  slow."  Now  there  are  two  palpable  objec- 
tions to  this  sort  of  instruction :  first,  the  assumption  that  a 
given  emotion  will  naturally  be  expressed  by  every  indi- 
vidual in  the  same  way  or  in  a  given  "  sphere,"  is  not  true ; 
second,  if  there  were  some  truth  in  the  underlying  princi- 
ples presented,  all  these  directions  are  bound  to  produce 
mechanical  and  artificial  results. 

And  yet  the  problem  remains.  Gestures,  used  sparingly 
and  effectively,  are  a  powerful  aid  to  public  speech.  They 
constitute  our  sign-language.  They  are  used  much  more 
freely  by  some  individuals  than  by  others ;  yet  any  speaker, 
if  he  is  awake,  if  he  is  physically  in  earnest,  will  at  times 
in  the  relatively  stronger  utterance,  feel  an  impulse  to  use 
his  arms  and  hands  to  emphasize  or  illustrate  his  thought. 
And  the  problem  is,  to  see  to  it  that  these  movements  of  the 
arms  and  hands  work  themselves  out  along  graceful  and 
effective  lines.  It  is  a  problem  in  economy  of  muscular 
energy,  in  the  union  of  action  and  repose,  and  in  the  co- 
ordination of  physical  energy  with  mental  and  emotional 
energy.  General  preparation  must  therefore  be  made  in  an 
all-round  physical  training.  Playing  tennis,  dancing,  swing- 
ing Indian  clubs  and  dumb-bells,  gymnasium  exercise, — 
especially  the  free  movements  of  the  "  Swedish  System"  — 
are  all  excellent  for  acquiring  muscular  control  and  relaxa- 
tion. If  a  gymnasium  is  accessible,  by  all  means  use  it,  and 
let  a  physical  expert  prescribe  for  you.  The  first  effort  of 


120  Pl'KLIC  8PKAKI\f;. 

the  student  usually  needs  to  be  directed  toward  limbering 
ii})  his  arms  and  body,  avoiding  all  rigidity,  and  cultivating 
a  passive  or  elastic  state.  For  the  benefit  of  those  who  may 
not  have  access  to  a  gymnasium,  a  few  simple  calisthenics 
are  appended  which,  if  regularly  and  faithfully  practised, 
will  be  found  helpful,  especially  in  getting  a  desired  relaxa- 
tion, of  the  arms  and  hands. 

Calisthenics  Preparatory  to  Gesture. 

1.  Stand  erect,  chest  prominent,  body  in  easy  poise. 

2.  Dangle  the  hands,  and  shake  the  arms  freely  from  the  shoul- 
ders, (a)  at  the  side,  (6)  held  horizontally  in  front,  and  (r)  hori- 
zontally at  the  side. 

3.  Rotate  the  body  on  the  hip-joints,  letting  the  arms  and  hands 
swing  freely.     Begin  slowly,  turning  the  trunk  and  head  as  much 
as  possible,  then  gradually  accelerate  until  the  movement  is  as 
rapid  and  energetic  as  possible. 

4.  Raise  the  upper  arm  slightly,  the  fore-arm  and  hand  trailing. 
Now  unfold  the  arm  and  hand  by  consciously  vitalizing  in  turn 
the  fore-arm,  wrist,  palm,  fingers,  the  hand  opening  at  about  the 
level  of  the  hips  and  midway  between  the  front  and  side.     Pru. 
tise  this  with  the  right  arm  and  hand,  then  the  left,  then  both 
together. 

5.  The  same  as  4,  except  that  the  hands  are  to  be  unfolded  at 
about  the  level  of  the  shoulders. 

i).  Practise  the  foregoing  unfolding  movement,  first  with  one  arm 
and  hand,  and  then  with  both  together,  the  hands  unfolding  directly 
in  front  at  first;  then,  in  succession,  during  live  or  six  repetitions, 
end  the  movement  at  varying  angles  between  the  front  and  the 
side. 

7.  Imagine  you  are  raising  a  pound  ball  held  in  the  palm  of  the 
baud;  raise  it  to  a  level  with  the  head,  then  cast  it  down,  letting 
it  roll  out  of  the  palm  and  over  the  fingers. 

We  shall  presently  see  the  practical  use  of  these  exercises. 
In  practising,  cultivate  muscular  consciousness,  and  have  the 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS  —  GESTURE.         121 

mind  work  in  coordination  with  the  prescribed  movement, — 
active  when  action  is  prescribed,  at  ease  when  relaxation  is 
desired. 

The  Mechanics  of  Gesture.  —  Just  how  much  attention 
should  be  called  to  mechanics  in  gesture,  is  a  mooted  ques- 
tion with  teachers;  but  this,  again,  depends  upon  the  indi- 
vidual. Certainly  no  one  wants  to  become  a  "  looking-glass 
orator,"  but  in  the  process  of  preliminary  training  and  prac- 
tice, the  young  speaker  may  well  turn  his  attention  and  his 
will,  if  need  be,  upon  his  arm  and  hand  movements,  even  to 
watching  himself  before  a  large  mirror,  and  note  whether 
or  not  he  is  making  these  movements  along  graceful  and 
expressive  lines.  Now,  any  gesture  may  be  analyzed  into 
the  movements  (a)  of  preparation  and  (6)  of  execution,  or 
stroke.  Let  us  see  how  this  works  out  in  a  given  gesture. 
Suppose  you  want  to  emphasize  by  gesture  the  negation 
expressed  in  the  following:  "You  say  that  we  are  weak; 
but  I  say  that  we  are  not  weak,  if  we  make  a  proper  use  of 
our  God-given  powers."  You  are  to  emphasize  not.  Begin- 
ning with  the  second  clause,  you  have  this  purpose  in  mind ; 
this  purpose  is  indicated  by  raising  the  arm  and  hand,  the 
elbow  and  fingers  slightly  bent  —  not  rigid,  yet  alive  —  the 
arm  descending  with  a  vigorous  stroke  on  not.  The  culmi- 
nation of  this  stroke  is  marked  by  a  straightening  of  the 
arm,  hand,  and  fingers  (though  not  stiffly),  the  impulse  going 
out  through  the  tips  of  the  fingers.  Remember  that  the 
impulse  is  to  be  sent  out  to  the  audience,  and  not  lodged 
in  the  elbow  or  wrist,  with  a  resulting  lifeless  hand.  The 
hand  should  be  opened  toward  the  audience,  —  palm, 
thumb,  and  fingers  —  neither  perpendicularly  nor  horizon- 
tally, neither  rigid  nor  lifeless.  Try  to  feel  the  impulse 
to  the  very  finger-tips,  and  hold  the  hand  there  a  moment 
until  the  impulse  is  spent,  then  allow  the  arm  to  come  back 


122  PUBLIC  SPEAKIXG. 

easily  to  the  side.  Try  this,  first  one  hand,  then  the  other, 
then  both  together,  aiming  to  economize  muscular  energy 
by  avoiding  all  rigidity. 

Gestures    Classified.  —  For    the   purposes    of   the    public 
speaker,  gestures  may  be  classified  as  Emphatic,  Suyy> 
and  Locative.     These  terms  are  largely  self-defining. 

The  Emphatic  gesture  is  most  commonly  used  by  the  pub- 
lic speaker.  It  aids  the  vocal  emphasis,  and  indicates  strong 
mental  or  moral  earnestness.  The  illustration  used  above 
would  be  an  emphatic  gesture.  The  emotional  force,  it 
should  be  noted,  will  determine  the  length  of  the  sweep  on 
the  preparatory  movement  and  the  vigor  of  the  stroke.  Any 
gesture,  to  be  expressive,  must  be  neither  lifeless  on  the  one 
hand  nor  over-elaborate  or  jerky  on  the  other.  Many  of  the 
most  expressive  emphatic  gestures  are  made  with  a  slight 
movement  of  the  arm  near  the  hips,  —  the  easy,  offhand 
colloquial  gesture.  This  was  a  characteristic  gesture  with 
Wendell  Phillips,  and  made  so  unobtrusively  that  contem- 
poraries differed  as  to  the  frequency  of  his  gestures,  some 
testifying  that  he  used  many,  others  claiming  that  he  made 
very  few.  The  lesson  is,  his  gestures,  as  gestures,  made  no 
impression  upon  the  audience. 

The  Suggestive  gesture  might  also  be  termed  the  gesture 
of  description.  Its  use  is  to  stimulate  the  imagination,  first 
of  the  speaker  and  then  of  the  audience,  in  more  clearly 
perceiving  objects  or  scenes  spoken  of,  but  not  present  to 
the  view.  You  see  the  object  or  scene,  you  want  the  audience 
to  see  it.  The  vividness  with  which  you  see  it  will  deter- 
mine in  the  first  instance  your  ability  to  make  your  audience 
see  it.  Now,  if  your  audience  is  to  share  in  your  mental 
picture,  you  must  place  the  picture  where  the  audience  can 
see  it  with  you,  not  back  of  you,  nor  too  far  to  one  side. 
The  eyes  will  precede  the  gesture,  and  will  play  back  and 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS— GESTURE.         123 

forth  (as  previously  suggested)  from  the  picture  to  the 
audience.  The  gesture  will  not  mark  the  object  or  scene 
described  by  metes  and  bounds :  it  is  suggestive  merely. 

Another  point  to  be  remembered :  Be  consistent  in  descrip- 
tion. If,  for  example,  you  are  describing  a  battle,  you  place 
the  cavalry  on  one  side  here,  the  infantry  there,  the  enemy 
over  yonder.  In  the  progress  of  the  battle  you  will  not  have 
one  army  move  now  one  way,  now  another,  nor  have  the 
cavalry  on  one  side  charge  upon  its  own  infantry. 

The  suggestive  gesture  is  widely  serviceable,  yet  it  is 
often  much  overworked.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  present  many 
things  directly  to  the  imagination  of  the  audience  without 
seeking  the  aid  of  gesture. 

The  Locative  gesture  is  used  to  point  out  or  refer  to  persons 
or  objects  that  may  be  actually  seen  by  the  audience.  If  a 
lawyer  in  the  court  room  says,  "There  sits  my  client,"  or  a 
speaker  asks,  "  Do  you  see  that  tree  standing  yonder  ?  "  the 
locative  gesture  would  naturally  be  used.  When  the  statue 
of  the  Minute  Man  of  the  Revolution  was  unveiled  at  Con- 
cord-, Mr.  Curtis  said,  in  the  course  of  his  oration  (addressing 
the  statue),  "But  should  we  or  our  descendants,  false  to 
justice  and  humanity,  betray  in  any  way  your  cause,  spring 
into  life,  as  a  hundred  years  ago,  descend  and  lead  us,  as 
God  led  you  in  saving  America,  to  save  the  hopes  of  man." 
Now,  when  invoking  the  spirit  of  the  Minute  Man,  the 
speaker,  must  have  used  a  locative  gesture  of  some  sort ;  it 
may  have  been  with  the  eyes  only.  It  is  apparent  that  if 
this  passage  occurred  in  a  declamation  (unless  the  speaker 
were  in  sight  of  the  statue),  the  gesture  becomes  suggestive 
merely.  The  general  principle  is,  then,  do  not  look  at  any 
object  or  scene,  real  or  imaginary,  at  any  length,  unless  you 
want  the  audience  to  look  there  too.  If  they  are  really  fol- 
lowing you,  they  will  follow  your  look. 

The  foregoing  classes  of  gestures  are  variously  combined. 


124  Pl'BLlC  SPEAKING. 

For  example,  the  use  of  the  index-finger  in  close  reasoning 
is  a  combination  of  the  suggestive  and  emphatic;  as,  "The 
point  I  make  is  this."  So  also,  the  arms  extended,  denoting 
breadth  of  ideas,  or  extent;  as,  "Everywhere,  spread  all 
over  in  characters  of  living  light,  let  there  be  inscribed  that 
other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American  heart,  Liberty 
and  Union."  Again,  the  gesture  of  appeal,  single  or  double, 
is  a  combination  of  the  locative  and  emphatic,  locating  those 
appealed  to,  and  at  the  same  emphasizing  the  idea  or  senti- 
ment; as,  "I  appeal  to  you,  fellow-students,  to  make  this 
institution  all  that  it  should  be  as  an  influence  in  this  com- 
monwealth." 

General  Principles  of  Gesture. 

1.  Gesture  should  be  made  from  the  chest  as  a  centre.     The 
impulse  should  go  from  the  speaker  out  through  the  arm  to 
the  audience.     The  upper  arm  should  lead,  as  we  have  seen, 
followed  more  or  less  quickly  by  the  fore-arm,  wrist,  and 
hand.      This  done,  there  will  result  a  free  arm  movement 
that  should  characterize  even  the  most  colloquial  gesture. 
Avoid  starting  the  impulse  at  the  wrist,  or  at  the  elbow, 
with  the  upper  arm  hugging  the  body. 

2.  The  curve  is  the  line  of  c/race  and  beauty.     The  Greeks 
long  ago  discovered  this  truth.      Angular  movements  are 
awkward.     Gestures  should  therefore,  generally  speaking, 
be  made  along  curved  lines.     In  the  preparatory  movement 
there  is  the  folding-up,  and  in  the  stroke  the  unfolding,  of 
the  arm  and  hand,  not  like  a  jack-knife,  but  in  a  spiral 
movement,  like  the  snapping  of  a  limber  whip.     Now,  the 
preparatory  movement  and  stroke  depart  from  the  curve 
and  approximate  the  straight  line,  in  proportion  to  the  force 
of  the  gesture  used.     A  suggestive  gesture  is  usually  made 
in  easy,  graceful  curves,  while  in  a  strongly  emphatic  gesture 
the  arm  is  raised  and  sent  forth  much  more  directly.     But 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS  —  GESTURE.          125 

in  any  case  the  arm  itself  in  almost  any  gesture  is  slightly 
curved.  Rarely  are  the  arm  and  hand  so  held  as  to  make  a 
straight  line. 

3.  A  gesture  either  precedes  or  accompanies  the  vocal  expres- 
sion. Suggestive  and  locative  gestures  precede  the  vocal 
expression.  The  psychology  of  gesture  dictates  this  law. 
The  idea  of  suggestion  is  in  the  mind.  Gesture  being  a 
sign-language,  the  sign  of  the  suggestion  anticipates  the 
vocal  description,  the  eyes  preceding  the  gesture,  the  gesture 
the  spoken  description.  Since  an  emphatic  gesture  simply 
supplements  the  vocal  emphasis,  this  gesture  is  given 
simultaneously  with  the  vocal  utterance.  A  violation  of 
this  principle  by  gesturing  too  soon  or  too  late  will  demon- 
strate the  incongruity.  Learn  to  have  the  preparatory 
movement  and  the  stroke  well-timed. 

Cautions.  —  Among  the  many  faults  in  gesturing,  the  fol- 
lowing are  noted  as  things  to  be  avoided :  — 
.  1.'  Avoid  gesture  at  the  beginning  or  at  the  very  close  of  a  N 
speech.  The  reason  for  this  admonition  is  obvious.  Since 
gesture  is  largely  a  phase  of  emotional  expression,  one  does 
not  ordinarily  reach  the  gesturing  point  in  the  introductory 
sentences;  and  to  employ  gestures  then,  usually  indicates 
either  mechanical  movements  or  a  lack  of  repose.  And 
to  employ  gesture  on  the  very  closing  words  is  to  let  the 
audience  drop,  as  it  were,  without  any  warning.  Further, 
gesture  at  this  point  obtrudes  itself  upon  that  direct  contact 
of  mind  with  mind,  which  should  characterize  the  very  close 
of  an  address. 

2.  Avoid  subjective  gestures.  That  is,  gesturing  to  your- 
self or  toward  yourself.  Remember  that  any  gesture  that 
takes  the  attention  of  the  audience  from  the  thought  either 
to  the  gesture  or  to  the  speaker,  is  a  poor  gesture,  for  it 
violates  the  first  essential  of  public-speaking,  —  thought 


126  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

communication.  Hence  many  gestures  often  used  by  the 
dramatic  reader  are  to  be  shunned;  such  as  striking  atti- 
tudes with  hands  clasped,  or  hand  on  the  heart,  or  exhibit- 
ing your  hands  when  you  are  speaking  of  some  one's  else 
hands,  or  pointing  to  any  part  of  the  body  —  in  short,  calling 
attention  in  any  way  to  your  person.  True,  a  bit  of  imper- 
sonation may  at  times  be  called  for,  but  rarely.  There  should 
be  an  exposition  of  the  thought,  not  an  exhibition  of  the 
speaker.  It  follows  that  gestures  should  curve  out  toward 
the  audience,  and  not,  as  is  sometimes  done,  in  toward  the 
speaker. 

3.  Avoid  see-saw  gestures.     That  is,  beginning  a  gesture 
with  one  hand  and  then  bringing  in  the  other  hand  ;  or 
beginning  with  both  hands,  and  then  dropping  one.     It  is 
true  that  good  speakers  occasionally  do  this,  and  at  times, 
in   suggestive  gestures,   it   may  be   appropriate,   but  very 
rarely;  for  when  an  impulse  to  gesture  is  begun  with  one 
hand,  or  with  both  hands,  that  impulse  will  naturally  work 
itself  out  along  the  lines  originally  intended.    Gestures  that 
are  see-sawing  —  one  hand  up,  then  the  other  —  show  a  lack 
of  coordination,  and  are  apt  to  appear  studied. 

4.  Avoid  a  too  literal  representation  of  figuratlfi   language. 
It  is  amusing  to  note  how  some  speakers  will  try  to  define 
the  metes  and  bounds,  the  ins  and  outs  of  a  figure  of  speech, 
instead  of  suggesting  its  broad  outlines  and  leaving  some- 
thing to  the  imagination  of  the  audience.     For  example,  I 
have  seen  students,  in  speaking  such  sentences  as,  "  Go  back 
with  me  to  the  commencement  of  this  century,  and  select 
what  statesman  you  please,"  turn  about  and  point  backw;ml, 
and  in  so  doing  make  the  further  mistake  of  translating 
time  as  distance. 

Duncan  Campbell  Lee,  professor  of  oratory  at  Cornell 
University,  relates  the  following  as  coming  under  his  obser- 
vation :  A  young  man  was  declaiming  a  selection  containing 


PHYSICAL  EARNESTNESS — GESTURE.          127 

the  following  sentence  :  "  A  handful  (looking  in  his  hand) 
of  men  rushed  up  the  incline  (motion  of  sending  them  up). 
they  were  driven  back  again  (receding  movement  of  hand] 
and  —  where  were  they  ?  "  (looking  in  his  hand  again  — 
ending  with  a  "  lost "  look  at  the  audience).  Says  Professor 
Hiram  Corson  :  "  Gesture  results,  or  should  result,  from 
emotion,  and  should  therefore  be  indefinite.  Mimetic  ges- 
ture, or  mimetic  action  of  any  kind,  is  rarely,  if  ever,  in 
place."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  meaning  of  such  words 
as  "  rotatory "  or  "  somersault "  requires  no  illustration  to 
an  audience  of  ordinary  intelligence ;  and  cites  an  example 
published  in  "  Expression,"  where  a  popular  public  reader 
of  Boston,  in  rendering  the  last  two  lines  of  Wordsworth's 
••  Daffodils,"  — 

"  And  then  my  heart  with  pleasure  fills, 
And  dances  with  the  daffodils," 

put  her  hand  to  her  heart  and,  with  "  pleasure,"  indicated 
by  a'sentimental  flash  of  the  eye  upon  the  audience,  danced 
a  few  graceful  steps  expressive  of  exuberant  joy,  and  bowed 
herself  off  the  platform  amid  the  vociferous  applause  of  the 
audience.  The  reader's  taste  in  this  case  was  no  worse  than 
that  of  the  audience  that  applauded  her.  The  incident  shows 
how  great  the  general  lack  of  taste,  and  the  need  of  system- 
atic study  of  fitness  in  relation  of  thought  to  its  expression.1 

These  imitative  movements  are  affected  by  some  elocu- 
tionists, and  students  adopt  such  gestures  as  the  proper 
thing.  Avoid  them.  They  are  rarely  used  in  good  inter- 
pretative reading,  and  certainly  have  no  place  in  public 
speaking. 

It  may  be  added  here,  that  since  figures  of  speech  are 
ordinarily  used  to  illustrate  the  thought,  the  burden  of  the 
gesture  expression  should  not  be  put  upon  such  figures,  but 

1  Corson:  The  Voice  and  Spiritual  Education,  p.  128. 


128  PUBLIC  SPEAK  I  \(;. 

rather  reserved  for  emphasizing  the  thought  itself,  —  the 
plain  statements  of  the  leading  ideas. 

5.  Avoid  iifdn'f  too  many  gestures.  As  in  other  elements  of 
expression,  too  many  gestures  lose  their  force  by  monotony. 
You  have  seen  speakers  who  were  continually  waving  their 
arms  and  hands,  producing  a  sort  of  windmill  effect.  Do 
not  think  that  every  idea  must  be  painted  on  a  banner  and 
waved  at  the  audience,  or  reflected  in  some  way  in  tin- 
action.  This  is  a  mistake  that  many  dramatic  readers 
make, — every  idea  is  pictured  in  some  form  upon  the  body. 
On  this  point  Professor  Corson  says :  — 

I  was  once  present,  by  accident,  at  a  lecture  given  by  a 
Delsarto-elocutionary  woman,  and  in  the  course  of  th«-  l«vtmv. 
she  presented  what,  she  said,  would  be  false  gestures  in  reciting 
Whittier's  -Maud  Muller."  She  then  recited  the  poem,  with. 
according  to  her  notions,  true  gestures,  which  were  more  in  num- 
ber than  Cicero  made,  perhaps,  in  his  orations  against  Catiline. 
or  Demosthenes,  in  his  "Oration  on  the  Crown."  Kvery  idea  of 
the  poem  told  outwardly  on  her  body. 

If  a  woman,  in  reading  -.Maud  Muller,"  has  emotions  which 
must  find  vent  in  gesture  and  various  physical  contortions,  she 
ought  to  be  put  under  treatment  that  would  tone  up  her  system. 


A  speaker  with  a  nervous  temperament,  having  an  impulse 
to  gesture  frequently,  needs  to  repress  rather  than  encourage 
the  use  of  gestures,  and  put  the  impulse  on  the  vocal  delivery. 
Avoid  all  side-twitchings  and  meaningless  movements  of  the 
arms  and  hands,  termed  by  the  classic  writers  the  "bab- 
bling of  the  hands"  ;  but  when  a  gesture  is  employed,  make 
it  strong  and  finished,  realizing  the  purpose  of  its  use  in  the 
execution.  It  is  always  best  to  reserve  gestures  for  the 
strong  places  in  a  speech  —  they  are  then  all  the  more  force- 
ful. Excess  of  action  weakens,  while  economy  of  appro- 
priate aotion  strengthens. 


PHYSICAL   EARNESTNESS  —  GESTURE.          129 

Variety  in  gesture  is  desirable.  The  direct,  emphatic 
gesture  is  the  preferable  type  for  the  public  speaker,  but 
do  not  be  confined  to  a  single  gesture  for  this  single  type. 
Speaking  on  this  subject,  the  Rev.  Herrick  Johnson,  of 
Chicago,  himself  widely  known  as  a  forcible  speaker,  says :  — 

Economy  of  gesture  is  just  like  precision  in  speech.  You  do 
not  want  too  many  words  to  express  thought,  but  you  want  enough. 
Not  two  arms  where  one  would  suffice.  Not  a  gesture  for  every 
varying  thought,  and  not  too  frequent  gestures  for  the  same 
thought.  For  example,  the  digital  tinger  is  very  strong  in  gesture 
if  used  with  economy.  If  it  is  used  now  and  then  you  can  send 
the  thought  right  down  into  the  hearer's  heart  by  shaking  your 
forefinger  at  him.  But  if  you  are  shaking  it  all  the  time,  what 
does  it  amount  to  ? 

6.  Do  not  gesture  irithout  an  impulse  to  gesture.  This  is,  v> 
after  all,  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.  To  be  sure,  in 
the  process  of  training,  directions  previously  given  may  well 
be  followed  for  the  sake  of  practice ;  for  as  the  physical 
reacts  upon  the  mental,  a  given  physical  movement  may 
induce  a  corresponding  emotion.  But  in  the  actual  process 
of  delivery  the  rule  as  laid  down  should  be  scrupulously 
followed.  Attempting  to  put  on  gesture  from  the  outside 
has  been  so  glaringly  the  fault  of  elocutionists  as  to  offend 
people  of  culture,  and  prejudice  them  against  any  attempts 
at  teaching  the  art  of  public  utterance.  In  the  synthesis  of 
delivery,  if  the  mind  and  emotions  are  active,  and  are  free- 
ing themselves  through  an  active  and  well-poised  physical 
medium,  appropriate  gestures  will  make  themselves.  At 
any  rate,  conscious  attention  to  gestures,  as  such,  should  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum.  Those  that  come  spontaneously  are 
the  best,  and  enough.  Even  in  the  preliminary  training  of  a 
school  or  college,  a  disproportionate  amount  of  time  is  often 
given  to  the  subject  of  gesture ;  the  control,  poise,  and  grace 


130  rt'BLic  SPEAK  i.\<;. 

that  characterize  a  finished  speaker  usually  come  after  much 
practice  in  public  speaking. 

SUMMARY. 

Action,  which  includes  physical  earnestness  and  gesture,  is  an 
important  means  of  expression,  It  manifests  itself  especially  in 
the  speaker's  carriage  and  in  the  movements  of  his  arms  and  hands. 
The  speaker  should  sometimes  stimulate,  and  should  always  control 
and  guide,  the  impulse  to  actional  expression ;  but  he  should  never 
gesture  without  such  impulse. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS, 

Style  of  Delivery.  —  In  the  opening  chapter  it  was  shown 
that  the  basis  of  the  best  speaking  lies  in  the  best  con- 
versation ;  that  the  act  of  speaking  is  only  the  enlarged 
conversation  that  comes  from  speaking  to  a  collection  of 
individuals ;  that  the  most  effective  public  speaking  comes 
from  talking  to  the  audience.  Now,  if  the  student  can  from 
the  outset  be  persuaded  to  take  this  attitude  toward  any 
audience  he  may  address,  he  has  gained  more  than  he  could 
from" a  year's  study  and  practice  of  the  technique  of  delivery. 
Tliis  conversational  basis  in  speech  is  of  the  very  essence 
of  the  problem.  If  the  audience  is  to  be  impressed  by  your 
thoughts,  convinced  of  your  convictions,  and  persuaded  of 
your  beliefs,  its  attention  should  not  be  distracted  by  a 
method  of  communication  outside  the  ordinary  experience. 
And  if  here  and  there  a  speaker  who  has  special  qualities  of 
force  or  attractiveness  attains  a  certain  measure  of  success 
by  another  method,  it  does  not  affect  the  truth  of  this  under- 
lying principle. 

Then,  too,  the  conversational  style  of  delivery  accords 
with  modern  taste;  for  oratory,  like  other  arts,  may  have 
a  certain  type  or  style,  varying  with  changing  conditions. 
The  style  of  popular  oratory  has  undergone  a  marked 
change  in  this  country — from  the  heavy  and  bombastic  to 
the  simple  and  direct  —  within  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
It  was  Wendell  Phillips  who  more  than  any  other  one 

131 


132  Pl'BLlC  SPAMA'/.V';. 

man  first  set  the  fashion  which  has  largely  done  away 
with  barn-storming  and  haranguing.  Curtis,  in  the  excerpt 
quoted  on  p.  100,  describes  his  manner  as  that  of  a  "  gen- 
tleman conversing."  Says  Colonel  Thomas  Wentworth 
Higginson :  — 

The  keynote  to  the  oratory  of  Wendell  Phillips  lay  in  this :  that 
it  was  essentially  conversational  —  the  conversational  raised  to  the 
highest  power.  Perhaps  no  orator  ever  spoke  with  so  little  appar- 
ent effort,  or  began  so  entirely  on  the  plane  of  his  average  hearers. 
It  was  as  if  he  simply  repeated,  in  a  little  louder  tone,  what  he  had 
just  been  saying  to  some  familiar  friend  at  his  elbow.  The  collo- 
quialism was  never  relaxed,  but  it  was  familiarity  without  loss  of 
dignity.  Then,  as  the  argument  went  on,  the  voice  grew  deeper, 
the  action' more  animated,  and  the  sentences  came  in  a  long, 
sonorous  swell,  still  easy  and  graceful,  but  powerful  as  the  soft 
stretch  of  a  tiger's  paw. 

The  conversational  style  is  first  of  all  spontaneous.  The 
speaker's  individuality  speaks  along  with  his  words;  he  is 
what  we  call  "natural."  It  is  so  easy  and  tempting  for 
the  young  speaker  to  imitate  some  one  whose  delivery  he 
particularly  admires,  forgetting  that  had  the  model  sunk  his 
individuality  by  copying  another  he  would  not  have  seemed 
so  admirable.  Secondly,  the  conversational  style  is  simple 
and  direct.  There  are  no  superfluous  frills  and  flourishes  in 
getting  the  message  from  the  speaker  directly  to  the  audi- 
ence. The  speaker's  art  is  not  that  of  the  dancer,  as  is  so 
often  thought.  It  is  rather  that  of  the  wrestler.  There  must 
be  a  personal  grapple  with  the  audience.  The  speaker's 
aim  must  be  not  to  have  the  audience  admire  him,  but 
to  have  it  follow  him.  Lastly,  the  conversational  style  is 
characterized  by  variety.  This  comes  from  the  speaker's 
spontaneity  and  from  a  flexibility  of  voice  and  body  that 
produce  frequent  and  natural  changes. 


GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS.  133 

As  was  shown  in  Chapter  III,  this  conversational  style, 
or  what  has  been  referred  to  as  the  conversational  basis, 
does  not  mean  that  one  is  to  speak  in  a  large  room  to  a  num- 
ber of  persons  in  the  same  manner  as  he  would  speak  to  a 
single  person  standing  by  his  side.  If  he  did  he  would  not 
be  heard ;  or,  if  heard,  his  words  might  fall  flat  and  lifeless. 
Colonel  Higginson,  in  the  quotation  given  above,  shows  that 
Mr.  Phillips  did  not  so  speak.  Public  speaking  is  a  magni- 
fied, heightened  conversation.  It  is,  as  Colonel  Higginson 
says,  "the  conversational  raised  to  its  highest  power!" 
( )rutory  in  its  higher  reaches,  where  the  emotional  element 
predominates  over  the  mental,  is  characterized  by  an  idealized 
language  which  lifts  speakers  and  hearers  above  the  hum- 
drum of  common  speech.  It  must  be  admitted,  too,  that 
something  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  audience.  By 
an  audience  of  average  culture  nowadays  —  and  beware  of/ 
talking  down  to  any  audience  —  the  simplicity  of  convert 
sation  is  relished,  as  of  one  man  talking  earnestly  with 
another,  resting  down  upon  his  subject  and  making  that 
speak.  Mere  emotionalism  tends  to  disappear  with  the 
advance  of  civilization,  but  certain  classes  of  men,  such  as 
judges  in  courts  of  law  and  college  professors,  used  to  hear- 
ing much  speaking  and  trained  to  value  the  intellectual,  are 
perhaps  inclined  to  undervalue,  as  young  speakers  are  in- 
clined to  overvalue,  the  emotional  element,  for  the  purposes 
of  popular  oratory.  It  was  noticed,  for  example,  that  Mr. 
Bryan's  style  of  delivery  when  speaking  to  a  university  audi- 
ence was  more  quiet  than  when  giving  practically  the  same 
speech  the  next  afternoon  at  a  political  barbecue.  Mr. 
Sheppard,  in  his  Before  an  Audience,  remarks  that  even 
Phillips  "required  listeners  that  were  accustomed  to  listen- 
ing." And  yet,  after  making  all  allowances  for  varying  con- 
ditions, the  best  public  speaking  is  fundamentally  strong, 
direct  talk. 


134  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

Stage-fright.  —  It  is  qnite  impossible  to  diagnose  tha<: 
common  malady  known  as  stage-fright.  Usually  it  afflicts 
the  speaker  during  the  first  few  seconds,  or  first  few  min- 
utes, of  his  speech.  Most  speakers  have  it,  in  varying  de- 
grees. Preachers  tell  us,  for  example,  that  even  after  long 
experience,  they  never  begin  their  weekly  sermons  without 
the  most  intense  nervousness.  True,  experiences  vary. 
Gladstone,  when  asked  if  he  never  became  nervous  before 
speaking,  said  that  he  often  did  in  opening  a  debate,  but 
never  in  replying. 

An  amusing  feature  of  this  matter  is,  that  young  speakers 
are  apt  to  think  that  they  are  the  only  ones  that  become 
seriously  embarrassed.  And  right  here  is  the  lesson  :  trained 
speakers  learn  to  control  their  embarrassment.  It  should 
be  remembered  that  a  nervous  tension,  if  brought  under 
control,  may  prove  a  help  rather  than  a  hindrance  to  the 
speaker,  for  it  puts  a  nerve-force  into  his  delivery  that 
might  otherwise  be  wanting.  How  attain  that  control  ? 
There  is  no  way  but  through  practice  in  speaking  to  audi- 
ences. Continued  practice,  if  it  does  not  eliminate  all 
embarrassment,  gradually  does  reduce  the  earlier  terrors. 
The  practice  should,  of  course,  be  directed  along  right  lines. 
Nervousness  may  be  aided  much  by  a  feeling  of  menial 
and  physical  preparedness.  Have  the  speech  thoroughly  in 
hand  long  enough  beforehand  to  give  both  mind  and  body 
a  rest.  Students  often  make  the  mistake  of  worrying  over 
a  speech  up  to  the  very  moment  of  its  delivery.  This 
method  is  suicidal.  Even  speakers  of  experience  sometimes 
fail  to  realize  how  much  the  success  or  failure  of  a  speech 
depends  upon  physical  conditions.  To  undergo  the  severe 
nervous  strain  of  public  speaking,  mind  and  body  should  be 
fresh.  The  day  preceding  an  athletic  event  the  trained 
contestant  either  rests  or  exercises  very  moderately.  So, 
if  a  speech  is  to  be  given  at  night,  say,  the  speaker  should 


GENERAL    SUGGESTIONS.  135 

wholly  lay  it  aside  during  the  afternoon  and  go  for  a  walk 
or  go  to  sleep  —  do  anything  but  exhaust  faculties  that  will 
be  needed  in  the  evening. 

Control  is  also  effected  through  the  communicative,  con- 
versational attitude,  as  one  rises  to  speak,  and  by  an  exer- 
cise of  the  will.  Again,  self-confidence  should  be  cultivated. 
Self-fear  is  quite  as  often  a  cause  of  stage-fright  as  is  a  fear 
of  the  audience.  Encourage  a  feeling  that  you  and  your 
audience  are  getting  on  well  together.  Self-confidence  is 
not  undue  conceit,  or  "  brag,  brass,  and  bluster  " ;  it  is  hav- 
ing the  courage  of  one's  convictions.  It  is  that  self-reliance 
which  enables  one  to  rise  to  the  occasion.  It  is  that  confi- 
dence which  leads  the  speaker  to  say  to  himself,  "I  know 
what  I  want  to  say  and  I  am  able  to  say  it." 

Study  and  Practice.  —  Like  every  other  art,  public  speaking 
demands  long-continued  study  and  practice.  The  most  pro- 
ficient always  feel  there  is  room  for  improvement;  and  like 
other  things  in  life,  if  one  is  earnestly  striving  to  reach  an 
ideal,  there  is  hope  for  him ;  if  he  thinks  he  has  reached  it, 
he  is  lost.  The  complex  art  of  public  address  cannot  be 
learned  quickly,  and  should  never  be  taken  up  as  a  play- 
thing. If  you  expect  to  be  a  speaker,  make  a  business  of 
the  study,  as  you  would  of  anything  else  worth  learning. 
Do  not  dabble  in  it.  A  little  dabbling  with  the  technique 
given  in  this  book  is  useless.  It  is  because  we  have  so 
many  dabblers  that  we  have  so  many  bunglers.  And  by 
way  of  repetition,  —  do  not  expect  to  correct  in  a  month  a 
fault  that  is  the  habit  of  years. 

Along  with  practice  in  vocal  technique,  the  student  should 
daily  practise  reading  aloud,  —  preferably  to  a  listener  or 
listeners.  And  even  after  vocal  technique  may  have  been 
fairly  well  mastered,  daily  practice  in  oral  reading  should  be 
continued,  for  in  intelligent  and  sympathic  reading  aloud 


136  I'fliLIC  8PEAKI.\<:. 

may  be  found  a  powerful  means  of  culture.  The  scarcity  of 
good  readers  is  another  reason  for  the  acquisition  of  the  art. 
Ask  the  average  college  graduate  to  read  a  piece  of  simple 
prose,  and  hear  him  jumble  it!  Says  Professor  Edward 
Dowden,  in  his  New  Studies  hi  Literature  :  — 

The  reading  which  we  should  desire  to  cultivate  is  intelligent 
reading,  that  is,  it  should  express  the  meaning  of  each  passage 
clearly ;  sympathetic  reading,  that  is,  it  should  convey  the  feeling 
delicately;  musical  reading,  that  is,  it  should  move  in  accord  with 
the  melody  and  harmony  of  what  is  read,  be  it  in  verse  or  prose. 

To  attain  this,  the  reader  must  train  the  eye  to  look  ahead 
of  the  vocalization  and  take  in  a  clause  or  a  sentence  at  a 
glance ;  that  is,  it  should  be  phrase-reading,  not  word-reading. 
In  reading  in  public,  directness  should  be  cultivated  by 
allowing  the  eyes  to  play  back  and  forth  from  the  book  or 
manuscript  to  the  audience.  At  the  beginning  of  a  given 
sentence,  the  reader  should  be  able  to  see  through  to  the 
end  of  that  sentence,  and  the  closing  words  should  be  spoken 
directly  to  the  audience,  independently  of  the  book,  then 
return  again  to  the  copy.  This  power  can  be  acquired  by 
practice. 

Practice,  indeed,  is  the  main  thing.  Certain  incurable 
defects  may  be  fatal,  certain  natural  qualities  are  desirable, 
though  not  indispensable ;  the  rest  is  work,  —  thorough 
preparation  and  continual  practice.  It  is  unfortunate  if  one 
must  face  an  audience  for  the  first  time  without  previous 
training.  The  drill  of  school  or  college  may  be  irksome, 
but  the  student  should  undertake  it  as  he  would  any  other 
task,  —  do  it  and  make  it  count  for  something.  If  you 
have  a  declamation,  an  oration,  or  an  argument  to  deliver, 
drill  on  the  oral  presentation.  Speak  to  an  imaginary 
audience.  Invite  your  friends  in  and  compel  them  to  listen. 
Do  not  be  afraid  of  drilling  too  much.  I  have  heard  students 


c  F.  V  Kit  A  L   8  UGGESTIONS.  ^    ,  137 

talk  about  getting  "stale"  who  did  not  even  enunciate 
clearly.  An  expert  in  technique  to  criticise  and  suggest  is 
desirable,  but  not  indispensable.  Sometimes  a  friend  who 
is  not  over-fastidious,  has  no  dogmatic  standards,  and  can 
judge  of  general  effectiveness,  is  the  most  valuable  sort  of 
a  critic.  Take  all  the  advice  offered  and  —  do  not  always 
act  on  it.  A  little  experience  will  enable  you  to  judge  of 
its  value ;  you  will  soon  learn  to  know  your  leading  faults 
yourself;  and  unless  you  are  to  surrender  your  individu- 
ality, you  must  be  the  final  judge.  And  then,  when  the 
occasion  arrives,  put  your  technique  in  the  background ;  let 
mental  and  moral  earnestness  be  the  predominant  processes ; 
;in»l  let  the  practice  in  technique  unconsciously  repeat  itself 
in  the  final  effort. 

CONCLUSION. 

Practice  faithfully  the  technique  of  delivery  until  it  becomes  a 
second  nature,  Do  not  fail  to  make  conscientious  and  thorough 
preparation  for  all  those  occasions,  so  frequent  nnder  the  conditions 
of  American  life  and  government,  when  you  will  be  called  upon 
to  speak :  and  thereby  make  general  preparation  for  those  times, 
unforeseen  yet  also  frequent  —  those  social  or  political  crises  in 
the  affairs  of  a  community,  a  State,  or  a  Nation  —  when  the  public 
speaker,  "  sending  the  truth  home,"  as  Beecher  defines  oratory, 
"with  all  the  resources  of  the  living  man,"  creates,  moulds,  and 
directs  a  public  opinion  that  conduces  to  right  thinking  and  right 
acting, 


CHAPTER    XITT. 
SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE. 

THE  ALAMO  AND  THE  NEW  SOUTH. 

HENRY  W.   ORADY. 

Extract  from  a  speech  delivered  at  the  Dallas,   Texas,  State  Fair, 
October  S6,  1887. 

MEN,  and  especially  young  men,  look  back  for  their  in- 
spiration to  what  is  best  in  their  traditions.  Thermopylae 
cast  Spartan  sentiments  in  heroic  mould,  and  sustained 
Spartan  arms  for  more  than  a  century.  Thermopylae  had 
survivors  to  tell  the  story  of  its  defeat.  The  Alamo  had 
none.  Though  voiceless,  it  shall  speak  from  its  dumb 
walls.  Liberty  cried  to  Texas  as  God  called  from  the 
clouds  unto  Moses.  Bowie  and  Fannin,  though  dead,  still 
live.  Their  voices  rang  above  the  din  of  Goliad  and  the 
glory  of  San  Jacinto,  and  they  marched  with  the  Texas 
veterans  who  rejoiced  at  the  birth  of  Texas  independence. 
It  is  the  spirit  of  the  Alamo  that  moved  above  the  Texas 
soldiers  as  they  charged  like  demigods  through  a  thousand 
battle-fields,  and  it  is  the  spirit  of  the  Alamo  that  whispers 
from  their  graves  and  ennobles  the  soil  that  was  crimsoned 
with  their  blood. 

In  the  spirit  of  this  inspiration  and  in  the  thrill  of  the 
amazing  growth  that  surrounds  you,  my  young  friends,  it 
will  be  strange  if  the  young  men  of  Texas  do  not  carry  the 

138 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE.  139 

Lone  Star  into  the  heart  of  the  struggle.  The  South  needs 
her  sons  to-day  more  than  when  she  summoned  them  to  the 
forum  to  maintain  her  political  supremacy,  more  than  when 
the  bugle  called  them  to  the  field  to  defend  issues  put  to 
the  arbitrament  of  the  sword.  It  is  ours  'to  show  that  as 
she  prospered  with  slaves  she  shall  prosper  still  more  with 
freemen ;  ours  to  see  that  from  the  lists  she  entered  in  pov- 
erty she  shall  emerge  in  prosperity;  ours  to  carry  the 
transcending  traditions  of  the  old  South,  from  which  none 
of  us  can  in  honor  or  in  reverence  depart,  unstained  and 
unbroken  into  the  new.  Let  every  man  here  pledge  him- 
self, in  this  high  and  ardent  hour,  that  in  death  and  earnest 
loyalty,  in  patient  painstaking  and  care,  he  shall  watch 
her  interest,  advance  her  fortune,  defend  her  fame,  and 
guard  her  honor  as  long  as  life  shall  last. 

With  such  consecrated  service,  what  could  we  not  accom- 
plish; what  riches  we  should  gather  for  her;  what  glory 
and  prosperity  we  should  render  to  the  Union ;  what  bless- 
ings we  should  gather  unto  the  universal  harvest  of  human- 
ity! As  I  think  of  it,  a  vision  of  surpassing  beauty  unfold-; 
to  my  eyes.  I  see  a  South,  the  home  of  fifty  millions  of 
people,  who  rise  up  every  day  to  call  from  blessed  cities, 
vast  hives  of  industry  and  of  thrift ;  her  country-sides  the 
treasures  from  which  their  resources  are  drawn  ;  her  streams 
vocal  with  whirring  spindles ;  her  valleys  tranquil  in  the 
white  and  gold  of  the  harvest;  her  mountains  showering 
down  the  music  of  bells,  as  her  slow-moving  flocks  and 
herds  go  forth  from  their  folds ;  her  rulers  honest  and  her 
people  loving,  and  her  homes  happy  and  their  hearthstones 
bright,  and  their  waters  still  and  their  pastures  green ;  her 
wealth  diffused  and  poorhouses  empty,  her  churches  earnest 


140  PUBLIC   SPEAKfXG. 

and  all  creeds  lost  in  the  gospel.  Peace  and  sobriety  walk- 
ing hand  in  hand  through  her  borders  ;  honor  in  her  homes ; 
uprightness  in  her  midst ;  plenty  in  her  fields ;  straight  and 
simple  faith  in  the  hearts  of  her  sons  and  daughters ;  her 
two  races  walking  together  in  peace  and  contentment. 

All  this,  my  country,  and  more  can  we  do  for  you.  As  I 
look  the  vision  grows,  the  splendor  deepens,  the  horizon 
falls  back,  the  skies  open  their  everlasting  gates,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Almighty  God  streams  through  as  He  looks 
down  on  His  people  who  have  given  themselves  unto  Him 
and  leads  them  from  one  triumph  to  another  until  they  have 
readied  a  glory  unspeaking,  and  the  whirling  stars,  as  in 
their  courses  through  Arcturus  they  run  to  the  milky  way, 
shall  not  look  down  on  a  better  people  or  happier  land. 


THE   AMERICAN'   UNIVERSITY  AND  AMERICAN 
CITIZENSHIP, 

WOODROW    WILSON. 

From  his  address  delivered  on  the  occasion  nf  his  inauguration  as 
President  of  Princeton  University,  October  £5,  190S. 

4.4  ?  2 

American  universities  served  free  nation,  whose  progress, 

whose  power,  whose  prosperity,  whose  happiness,  whose  in- 
tegrity depend  upon  individual  initiative  and  the  sound 
sense  and  equipment  of  tl^e  r&nk  and  file.  Their  history, 
moreover,  has  set  tjiem  apart  to  a  character  and  service  of 
their  own.  They  are  not  mere  seminaries  of  scholars.  They 
never  can  be.  Most  of  them,  the  greatest  of  tlu-m  and  the 
most  distinguished,  were  tirst  of  $11  great  colleges  before 
they  became  universities,  and  their  t£sk  is  twofold,  —  the 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PUACTICE.  141 

£     •£  k 

production  of  a  great  body  of  informed  and  thoughtful  men, 

and  the  production  of  ti  small  body  of  trained  scholars  and 
investigators.  It  is  one  of  their  functions  to  Ake  large 
bodies  of  young  men  up  to  the  places  of  outlook  whence  the 
world  of  thought  and'Wairs  is  to  be  viewed ;  it  is  smother  of 
their  functions  to  take  some  men,  a  little  more  mature,  a 
little  more  studious,  men  s^lf-selected  by  aptitude  and  in- 
dustry, into  the  quiet  libraries  and  laboratories  where  the 
close  coni&cts  of  study  are  learned  which  yield  the  world 

"*""'  jk  ^\ 

new  insight  into  the  processes  of  nature,  of  reason,  and  of 
the  human  spirit. /These  two  functions  are  not  to  be  per- 
formed separately,  but  side  by  side,  and  are  to  be  informed 
with  one  spirit,  the  spirit  of  enlightenment,  a  spirit  of  learn- 
ing which  is  neither  superficial  nor  pedantic,  which  values 
life  more  than  it  values  the  mere  acquisitions  of  the  mind. 
There  are  other  things  besides  mere  material  success  with 
which  we  must  supply  our  generation.  It  must  be  supplied 
with  men  who  care  more  for  principles  than  for  money,  for 
the  right  adjustments  of  life  than  for  the  gross  accumula- 
tions of  profit.  The  problems  that  call  for  sober  thought- 
fulness  and  mere  devotion  are  as  pressing  as  those  which 
call  for  practical  efficiency.  We  are  here  not  merely  to 
release  the  faculties  of  men  for  their  own  use,  but  also 
to  quicken  their  social  understanding,  instruct  their  con- 
sciences, and  give  them  the  catholic  vision  of  those  who 
know  their  just  relations  to  their  fellow-men.  Here  in 
America,  for  every  man  touched  with  nobility,  for  every 
man  touched  with  the  spirit  of  our  institutions,  social  service 
is  the  high  law  of  duty,  and  every  American  university  must 
square  its  standards  by  that  law  or  lack  its  national  title. 
It  is  serving  the  nation  to  give  men  the  enlightenments  of  a 


142  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

general  training;  it  is  serving  the  nation  to  equip  fit  men 
for  thorough  scientific  investigation  and  for  the  tasks  of  exact 
scholarship,  for  science  and  scholarship  carry  the  truth  for- 
ward from-  generation  to  generation  and  give  the  certain 
touch  of  knowledge  to  the  processes  of  life.  But  the  whole 
service  demanded  is  not  rendered  until  something  is  added 
to  the  mere  training  of  the  undergraduate  and  the  mere 
equipment  of  the  investigator,  something  ideal  and  of  the 
very  spirit  of  all  action.  The  final  synthesis  of  learning  is 
in  philosophy.  You  shall  most  clearly  judge  the  spirit  of  a 
university  if  you  judge  by  the  philosophy  it  teaches;  and  the 
philosophy  of  conduct  is  what  every  wise  man  should  wish 
to  derive  from  his  knowledge  of  the  thoughts  and  the  affairs 
of  the  generations  that  have  gone  before  him.  We  are  not 
put  into  this  world  to  sit  still  and  know ;  we  are  put  into  it 
to  act. 

I  have  said  already,  let  me  say  again,  that  in  such  a  place 
as  this  we  have  charge,  not  of  men's  fortunes,  but  of  their 
spirits.  This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  teach  men  their 
specific  tasks,  except  their  tasks  be  those  of  scholarship 
and  investigation ;  it  is  the  place  in  which  to  teach  them  the 
relations  which  all  tasks  bear  to  the  work  of  the  world. 
Some  men  there  are  who  are  condemned  to  learn  only  the 
technical  skill  by  which  they  are  to  live ;  but  these  are  not 
the  men  whose  privilege  it  is  to  come  to  a  university. 
University  men  ought  to  hold  themselves  bound  to  walk  the 
upper  roads  of  usefulness  which  run  along  the  ridges  and 
command  views  of  the  general  fields  of  life.  This  is  why  I 
believe  general  training,  with  no  particular  occupation  in 
view,  to  be  the  very  heart  and  essence  of  university  training, 
and  the  indispensable  foundation  of  every  special  develop- 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  143 

ment  of  knowledge  or  of  aptitude  that  is  to  lift  a  man  to  his 
profession  or  a  scholar  to  his  function  of  investigation. 

A  new  age  is  before  us,  in  which,  it  would  seem,  we  must 
lead  the  world.  No  doubt  we  shall  set  it  an  example  un- 
precedented, not  only  in  the  magnitude  and  telling  perfec- 
tion of  our  industries  and  arts,  but  also  in  the  splendid  scale 
and  studied  detail  of  our  university  establishments ;  the 
spirit  of  the  age  will  lift  us  to  every  great  enterprise.  But 
the  ancient  spirit  of  sound  learning  will  also  rule  us ;  we 
shall  demonstrate  in  our  lecture  rooms  again  and  again,  with 
increasing  volume  of  proof,  the  old  principles  that  have  made 
us  free  and  great ;  reading  men  shall  read  here  the  chastened 
thoughts  that  have  kept  us  young  and  shall  make  us  pure ; 
the  school  of  learning  shall  be  the  school  of  memory  and  of 
ideal  hope;  and  the  men  who  spring  from  our  loins  shall 
take  their  lineage  from  the  founders  of  the  republic. 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP. 

CHARLES    H.   PARKHURST. 

The  fundamental  service  which  the  church  has  to  render 
in  the  line  of  municipal  or  national  betterment  is  to  develop 
in  Christians  as  such  a  civic  consciousness.  To  an  Ameri- 
can the  Stars  and  Stripes  ought  to  be  as  actually  a  part  of 
his  religion  as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Other  things 
being  equal,  it  is  as  urgently  the  obligation  of  a  Christian 
to  go  to  the  polls  on  election  day  as  it  is  for  him  to  go  to  the 
Lord's  table  on  communion  day. 

That  sense  of  the  holy  obligation  which  citizenship  in- 
volves must  be  made  part  of  our  Christian  religion.  It 


144  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

must  be  taught  from  the  pulpit,  rehearsed  in  the  home,  re- 
iterated in  the  Sunday-school,  and  practised  in  the  life.  .r 
wish  the  time  might  come  when  we  could  have  our  national 
colors  displayed  in  the  sanctuary ;  not  simply  hung  from 
the  belfry  in  a  shy  kind  of  way  on  the  Fourth  of  July  and 
the  twenty-second  of  February,  but  made  a  permanent  part 
of  sanctuary  decoration. 

The  old  Hebrew  never  thought  of  patriotism  as  anything 
but  a  constituent  part  of  religion.  To  him  it  was  religion 
in  its  political  aspects.  I  wish  there  were  some  way  in 
which  we  could  make  civic  virtue  part  of  our  creed.  It 
would  be  a  tremendous  gain  if  we  could  all  of  us  come  to 
conceive  of,  and  to  handle,  civic  duties,  such  as  attending 
the  primaries  and  going  to  the  polls,  as  lying  on  religious 
ground  and  contained  within  Christian  jurisdiction. 

The  instant  effect  of  such  civic  consciousness  would  be  to 
bring  the  citizen  into  direct  practical  relations  to  his  city 
or  country,  and  to  make  him  feel  in  regard  to  his  city,  for 
example,  "  This  is  my  city."  No  matter  how  many  mayors 
or  aldermen  or  police  captains  you  have,  it  is  your  city  all 
the  same,  and  no  city  is  safe  unless  its  citizens  tread  steadily 
on  the  heels  of  those  who  have  been  hired  to  do  the  town's 
business.  The  mayor  is  bound  to  look  after  the  citizens, 
but  the  citizens  are  just  as  much  bound  to  look  after  the 
mayor.  The  police  must  watch  the  people,  but  the  people 
must  watch  the  police. 

The  evil  will  have  to  be  overcome  with  the  good,  and  per- 
sonality is  the  thing  that  will  have  to  do  it.  It  will  have 
to  be  done  by  men  with  convictions  and  with  the  courage 
of  their  convictions.  It  will  have  to  be  done  by  men  who 
remember  always  that  the  security  and  the  honor  of  the 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  145 

community  lies  not  so  much  in  its  greatest  statesmen,  in  its 
powerful  leaders,  or  even  in  its  educational  advantages,  as 
it  does  in  the  number  of  its  men  with  whom  righteousness 
is  a  chronic  passion,  civic  duty  a  part  of  Christianity. 

SOURCES  OF  OUR  NATIONAL  STRENGTH. 

WHITELAW   RKID. 

Extract  from  an  address  delivered  in  Carnegie  Hall,  Pittsbury, 
Pennsylvania,  November  6,  1902. 

We  as  Americans  are  intolerant  believers  in  our  form  of 
government.  Every  child  learns  to  think  that  it  is  the  best 
in  the  world,  not  only  for  us  but  for  all  men.  Every  dema- 
gogue learns  to  bellow  forth  his  unlimited,  unquestioning 
certainty  of  that  superiority  and  universal  applicability.  I 
am  not  here  to  dispute  the  belief  —  only  to  define  the  facts 
about  it.  If  our  form  of  government  is  the  best,  it  cannot 
be  so  because  it  is  the  cheapest.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  one 
of  the  most  expensive  in  the  world.  Nor  can  it  be  the  best 
because  it  is  the  most  efficient.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  one 
of  the  slowest  in  the  world;  the  most  complicated,  cum- 
brous, and  limited.  And  even  within  the  spheres  in  which 
it  will  work,  our  form  of  government  is  not  the  easiest  to 
work.  On  the  contrary,  it  requires,  to  keep  it  running  suc- 
cessfully, more  public  spirit,  more  study  about  candidates, 
more  time  for  multitudinous  elections,  more  watchfulness 
of  public  officials,  and  a  higher  average  of  intelligence  than 
any  other  in  the  world.  Now,  if  these  things  are  so,  if  our 
government  does  in  any  measure  have  these  defects,  then 
the  old  question  of  the  Philistines  comes  up  with  insistent 
force,  "  Wherein  lies  its  great  strength  ?  " 


146  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

The  answer  has  become  a  truism.  Its  strength  lies  in  the 
quality  of  man  it  develops.  The  real  merit  is  not  in  the 
machinery,  but  in  the  skilled  intelligence  absolutely  required 
to  frame  and  to  work  it ;  in  the  combination  of  respect  for 
authority  on  the  one  hand,  with  training  in  individual  initi- 
ative on  the  other,  which  this  work  brings  out  and  which 
the  government  has  thus  far  scrupulously  and  religiously 
guarded. 

We  brought  the  respect  for  authority  from  the  birthplace 
of  the  common  law ;  and  in  proportion  as  harshness  from 
its  officers  was  resented  in  the  old  home,  in  like  proportion 
the  law  itself  was  instinctively  elevated  into  a  veritable 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  in  the  wilderness 
of  the  New  World.  We  found  the  individual  initiative  in 
the  necessities  of  an  untamed  continent ;  were  driven  to  it, 
shut  up  to  it  at  every  turn,  —  in  the  imperative,  beginning 
of  orderly  self-government  at  a  thousand  isolated  spots, — 
in  the  long-protracted  struggle  with  wild  lands,  wild  beasts, 
and  wild  men,  —  till  it  became  the  inheritance  of  the 
race;  till  under  its  stimulus  men  found  their  solitary  way 
through  trackless  woods  to  make  lonely  clearings  or  start 
frontier  settlements  across  the  Alleghanies,  through  track- 
less prairies  to  possess  the  Mississippi  Valley,  through  alkali 
deserts  to  wrest  their  gold  "from  the  mountains,  and  at  last 
through  the  Sierras  to  scatter  up  and  down  the  enchanted 
shore  of  the  Pacific.  To  such  a  continental  conquest  of 
nature  and  of  men  have  those  two  traits  of  the  fathers 
brought  us:  their  respect  for  authority  and  their  widest 
freedom  of  individual  initiative.  These,  with  the  original 
vigor  of  the  stock,  have  made  Americans  what  they  are; 
and  by  consequence  have  made  this  blessed  country  of  ours 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE.  147 

fche  joy  and  pride  and  hope  of  our  lives.  To  harm  either  is 
Criminal  —  whether  to  break  down  respect  for  authority  by 
unlawful  combinations,  tricky  evasions,  and  open  defiance  of 
order,  or  to  cramp  the  widest  freedom  of  the  individual  in 
any  lawful  enterprise  or  labor  anywhere.  Whoever  or  what- 
ever now  dares  to  interfere  with  the  permanent  union  of 
these  two  traits  and  their  continued  development  in  the 
American  life,  is  an  enemy  to  the  Republic  —  whether 
known  as  political  boss,  or  as  trust,  or  as  trade  union. 

This  is  the  line  along  which  the  future  of  the  Republic 
may  be  safeguarded.  It  is  to  endure,  if  at  all,  because  the 
latest  generations  hold  fast  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the 
fathers,  respect  for  authority,  and  the  widest  liberty  for 
individual  activities.  Mr.  Dalzell  once  quoted  to  you  very 
aptly  the  illuminating  definition  of  civilization,  given  by  a 
philosophic  Frenchman.  It  is,  said  M.  Guizot,  the  progress 
of  society  and  the  progress  of  the  individual.  But  the 
society  cannot  make  progress  without  that  respect  for 
authority  which  is  its  corner-stone ;  and  the  individual  can- 
not make  progress  without  that  freedom  of  initiative  which 
is  the  essence  of  liberty  itself. 

If  society  makes  progress,  and  the  individual  does  not, 
you  have  the  condition,  not  of  the  Republic,  which,  we 
fondly  trust,  is  to  endure  forever,  but  of  the  despotism 
which  we  have  hoped  was  passing  away.  Let  us  not  lose 
our  heads  in  the  midst  of  our  bewildering  prosperity,  and 
risk  shipwreck  by  getting  out  of  sight  of  the  old  landmarks. 
We  are  the  oldest  republic  in  the  world  (save  those  so  small 
as  to  be  negligible),  but  our  years  do  not  yet  cover  the  span 
the  Psalmist  assigned  to  two  human  lives,  while  those  of 
the  monarchies  and  despotisms  count  by  thousands.  Other 


148 

republics,  long  since  passed  away,  have  lasted  as  long  as  we, 
and  borne  for  their  time  as  great  a  sway  in  the  world.  Be 
not  deceived.  Strong  as  this  Republic  is,  it  is  not  strong 
enough  —  let  us  hope  it  will  never  be  unjust  enough  —  to 
let  either  labor  shut  any  of  its  children  out  of  learning  a 
trade  or  capital  shut  any  of  them  out  of  going  into  trade. 
You  cannot  preserve  the  triumphant  democracy  and  insure 
the  American  future  unless  you  preserve  the  American  citizen 
in  his  habit  as  he  was,  revering  the  law,  respecting  authority, 
and  beyond  that,  still  limited  in  his  free. activities  by  no 
master  below  God. 


THE  PHILIPPINE   QUESTION. 

ALBERT  .1.    BEVERIDGE. 

From  a  speech  delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate,  January  9,  1900. 

The  question  of  our  policy  toward  the  Philippine  Islands 
is  deeper  than  any  question  of  party  politics ;  deeper  than 
any  question  of  the  isolated  policy  of  our  country  even; 
deeper  even  than  any  question  of  constitutional  power.  It 
is  elemental.  It  is  racial.  God  has  not  been  preparing  the 
English-speaking  and  Teutonic  peoples  for  a  thousand  years 
for  nothing  but  vain  and  idle  self-contemplation  and  self- 
admiration.  No!  He  has  made  us  the  master  organizers 
of  the  world  to  establish  system  where  chaos  reigns.  He 
has  given  us  the  spirit  of  progress  to  overwhelm  the  forces 
of  reaction  throughout  the  earth.  He  has  made  us  adepts 
in  government  that  we  may  administer  government  among 
savage  and  senile  peoples.  Were  it  not  for  such  a  force  as 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  149 

this,  the  world  would  relapse  into  barbarism  and  might. 
And  of  all  our  race  He  has  marked  the  American  people  as 
His  chosen  nation  to  finally  lead  in  the  regeneration  of  the 
world.  This  is  the  divine  mission  of  America,  and  it  holds 
for  us  all  the  profit,  all  the  glory,  all  the  happiness,  possible 
to  man.  We  are  trustees  of  the  world's  progress,  guardians 
of  its  righteous  peace.  The  judgment  of  the  Master  is  upon 
us :  "  Ye  have  been  faithful  over  a  few  things  ;  I  will  make 
you  ruler  over  many  things." 

What  shall  history  say  of  us?  Shall  it  say  that  we 
renounced  that  holy  trust,  left  the  savage  to  his  base  con- 
dition, the  wilderness  to  the  reign  of  waste,  deserted  duty, 
abandoned  glory,  forgot  our  sordid  profit  even,  because  we 
feared  our  strength,  and  read  the  charter  of  our  powers  with 
the  doubter's  eye  and  the  quibbler's  mind  ?  Shall  it  say 
that,  called  by  events  to  captain  and  command  the  proudest, 
ablest,  purest  race  of  history  in  history's  noblest  work,  we 
declined  that  great  commission  ?  Our  fathers  would  not 
have  had  it  so.  No!  They  founded  no  paralytic  govern- 
ment incapable  of  the  simplest  acts  of  administration. 
They  planted  no  sluggard  people,  passive  while  the  world's 
work  calls  them.  They  established  no  reactionary  nation. 
They  unfurled  no  retreating  flag. 

That  flag  has  never  paused  in  its  onward  march.  Who 
dares  halt  it  now  —  now,  when  history's  largest  events  are 
carrying  it  forward ;  now,  when  we  are  at  last  one  people, 
strong  enough  for  any  task,  great  enough  for  any  glory 
destiny  can  bestow  ?  How  comes  it  that  our  first  century 
closes  with  the  process  of  consolidating  the  American  people 
into  a  unit  just  accomplished,  and  quick  upon  the  stroke  of 
that  great  hour  presses  upon  us  our  world  opportunity,  world 


150  rntLic  SPEAKING. 

duty,  and  world  glory,  which  none  but  a  people  welded  into 
an  indivisible  nation  can  achieve  or  perform  '/ 

Blind  indeed  is  he  who  sees  not  the  hand  of  God  in  events 
so  vast,  so  harmonious,  so  benign.  Reactionary  indeed  is  the 
mind  that  perceives  not  that  this  vital  people  is  the  strongest 
of  the  saving  forces  of  the  world ;  that  our  place,  therefore,  is 
at  the  head  of  the  constructing  and  redeeming  nations  of  the 
earth ;  and  that  to  stand  aside  while  events  march  on  is  a 
surrender  of  our  interests,  a  betrayal  of  our  duty  as  blind  as 
it  is  base.  Craven  indeed  is  the  heart  that  fears  to  perform 
a  work  so  golden  and  so  noble ;  that  dares  not  win  a  glory 
so  immortal. 

Do  you  tell  me  that  it  will  cost  us  money  ?  When  did 
America  ever  measure  duty  by  financial  standards  ?  Do  you 
tell  me  of  the  tremendous  toil  required  to  overcome  the  vast 
difficulties  of  our  task  ?  What  mighty  work  for  the  world, 
for  humanity,  even  for  ourselves,  has  ever  been  done  with 
ease?  Even  our  bread  must  we  eat  by  the  sweat  of  our 
faces.  Why  are  we  charged  with  power  such  as  no  people 
ever  knew  of  if  we  are  not  to  use  it  in  a  work  such  as  no 
people  ever  wrought  ?  We  will  dispute  the  divine  meaning 
of  the  fable  of  the  talents. 

Do  you  remind  me  of  the  precious  blood  that  must  be  shed, 
the  lives  that  must  be  given,  the  broken  hearts  of  loved  ones 
for  their  slain  ?  And  this  is  indeed  a  heavier  price  than  all 
combined.  And  yet  as  a  nation  every  historic  duty  we  have 
done,  every  achievement  we  have  accomplished,  has  been  by 
the  sacrifice  of  our  noblest  sons.  Every  holy  memory  that 
glorifies  the  flag  is  of  those  heroes  who  died  that  its  onward 
march  might  not  be  stayed.  It  is  the  nation's  dearest  lives 
yielded  for  the  flag  that  makes  it  dear  to  us ;  it  is  the  nation's 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  151 

most  precious  blood  poured  out  for  it  that  makes  it  precious 
to  us.  That  flag  is  woven  of  heroism  and  grief,  of  the 
bravery  of  men,  and  women's  tears,  of  righteousness  and 
battle,  of  sacrifice  and  anguish,  of  triumph  and  glory.  It 
is  these  which  make  our  flag  a  holy  thing.  Who  would 
tear  from  that  sacred  banner  the  glorious  legends  of  a  single 
battle  where  it  has  waved  on  land  or  sea  ?  What  son  of  a 
soldier  of  the  flag  whose  father  fell  beneath  it  on  any  field 
would  surrender  that  proud  record  for  the  heraldry  of  a 
king?  In  the  cause  of  civilization,  in  the  service  of  the 
Republic  anywhere  on  earth,  Americans  consider  wounds 
the  noblest  decorations  man  can  win,  and  count  the  giving 
of  their  lives  a  glad  and  precious  duty. 

Pray  God  that  spirit  never  fails.  Pray  God  time  may 
never  come  when  Mammon  and  the  love  of  ease  shall  so 
debase  our  blood  that  we  will  fear  to  shed  it  for  the  flag 
and  its  imperial  destiny.  Pray  God  the  time  may  never 
come  when  American  heroism  is  but  a  legend  like  the 
story  of  the  Cid,  American  faith  in  our  mission  and  our 
might  a  dream  dissolved,  and  the  glory  of  our  mighty  race 
departed. 

And  that  time  will  never  come.  We  will  renew  our 
youth  at  the  fountain  of  new  and  glorious  deeds.  We  will 
exalt  our  reverence  for  the  flag  by  carrying  it  to  a  noble 
future  as  well  as  by  remembering  its  ineffable  past.  Its 
immortality  will  not  pass,  because  everywhere  and  always 
we  will  acknowledge  and  discharge  the  solemn  responsibili- 
ties our  sacred  flag,  in  its  deepest  meaning,  puts  upon  us. 
And  so,  with  reverent  hearts,  where  dwells  the  fear  of  God, 
the  American  people  move  forward  to  the  future  of  their 
hope  and  the  doing  of  His  work. 


152  rriiLK    8PXAKINO. 


OUR  POLICY    TOWARD   THK   PHILIPPINES. 

GEORGE    F.    HOAR. 

From  a  speech  delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate,  May  £  2,  1900. 

A  famous  orator  once  imagined  the  nations  of  the  world 
uniting  to  erect  a  column  to  Jurisprudence  in  some  stately 
capital.  Each  country  was  to  bring  the  name  of  its  great 
jurist  to  be  inscribed  on  the  side  of  the  column,  with  a 
sentence  stating  what  he  and  his  country  through  him  had 
done  toward  establishing  the  reign  of  law  in  justice  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind. 

Rome  said.  "  Here  is  Numa,  who  received  the  science  of 
law  from  the  nymph  Egeria  in  the  cavern  and  taught  its 
message  to  his  countrymen.  Here  is  Justinian,  who  first 
reduced  law  to  a  code,  made  its  precepts  plain,  so  that  all 
mankind  could  read  it,  and  laid  down  the  rules  which 
should  govern  the  dealing  of  man  with  man  in  every  trans- 
action of  life." 

France  said,  "  Here  is  D'Aguesseau,  the  great  chancellor, 
to  whose  judgment-seat  pilgrims  from  afar  were  wont  to 
repair  to  do  him  reverence." 

England  said,  "  Here  is  Erskine,  who  made  it  safe  for 
men  to  print  the  truth,  no  matter  what  tyrant  might  dislike 
to  read  it." 

Virginia  said,  "  Here  is  Marshall,  who  breathed  the  vital 
principle  into  the  Constitution,  infused  into  it,  instead  of 
the  letter  that  killeth,  the  spirit  that  maketh  alive,  and 
enabled  it  to  keep  state  and  nation  each  in  its  appointed 
bounds,  as  the  stars  abide  in  their  courses." 

I  have  sometimes  fancied  that  we  might  erect  here  in  the 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  153 

capital  of  the  country  a  column  to  American  Liberty  which 
alone  might  rival  in  height  the  beautiful  and  simple  shaft 
which  we  have  erected  to  the  fame  of  the  Father  of  the 
Country.  I  can  fancy  each  generation  bringing  its  in- 
scription, which  should  recite  its  own  contribution  to  the 
great  structure  of  which  the  column  should  be  but  the 
symbol. 

The  generation  of  the  Puritan  and  the  Pilgrim  and  the 
Huguenot  claims  the  place  of  honor  at  the  base  :  "  I  brought 
the  torch  of  freedom  across  the  sea.  I  cleared  the  forest. 
I  subdued  the  savage  and  the  wild  beast.  I  laid  in  Christian 
liberty  and  law  the  foundations  of  empire." 

The  next  generation  says :  "  What  my  fathers  founded 
I  builded.  I  left  the  seashore  to  penetrate  the  wilderness. 
1  planted  schools  and  colleges  and  courts  and  churches." 

Then  comes  the  generation  of  the  great  colonial  day: 
"I  stood  by  the  side  of  England  on  many  a  hard-fought 
field.  I  helped  humble  the  power  of  France.  I  saw  the 
lilies  go  down  before  the  lion  at  Louisburg  and  Quebec. 
I  carried  the  cross  of  St.  George  in  triumph  in  Martinique 
and  the  Havana.  I  knew  the  stormy  pathways  of  the 
ocean.  I  followed  the  whale  from  the  Arctic  to  the  Ant- 
arctic seas,  among  tumbling  mountains  of  ice  and  under 
equinoctial  heat,  as  the  great  English  orator  said,  'No  sea 
not  vexed  by  my  fisheries ;  no  climate  not  witness  to  my 
toils.' " 

Then  comes  the  generation  of  the  Revolutionary  time: 
"  I  encountered  the  power  of  England.  I  declared  and 
won  the  independence  of  my  country.  I  placed  that  decla- 
ration on  the  eternal  principles  of  justice  and  righteousness 
which  all  mankind  have  read,  and  on  which  all  mankind 


154  I'l'BLIC  SPEAKING. 

will  one  day  stand.  I  affirmed  the  dignity  of  human  nature 
and  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves.  I  devised 
the  securities  against  popular  haste  and  delusion  which 
made  that  right  secure.  I  created  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  Senate.  For  the  first  time  in  history  I  made  the  right 
of  the  people  to  govern  themselves  safe,  and  established 
institutions  for  that  end  which  will  endure  forever." 

The  next  generation  says :  "  I  encountered  England  again. 
I  vindicated  the  right  of  an  American  ship  to  sail  the  seas 
the  wide  world  over  without  molestation.  I  made  the 
American  sailor  as  safe  at  the  ends  of  the  earth  as  my 
fathers  had  made  the  American  farmer  safe  in  his  home. 
I  proclaimed  the  Monroe  doctrine  in  the  face  of  the  Holy 
Alliance,  under  which  sixteen  republics  have  joined  the 
family  of  nations.  I  filled  the  Western  Hemisphere  with 
republics  from  the  Lakes  to  Cape  Horn,  each  controlling 
its  own  destiny  in  safety  and  in  honor." 

Then  comes  the  next  generation:  "I  did  the  mighty 
deeds  which  in  your  younger  years  you  saw  and  which 
your  fathers  told.  I  saved  the  Union.  I  put  down  the 
rebellion.  I  freed  the  slave.  I  made  of  every  slave  a  free- 
man, and  of  every  freeman  a  citizen,  and  of  every  citizen 
a  voter." 

Then  comes  another  who  did  the  great  work  in  peace,  in 
which  so  many  of  you  had  an  honorable  share :  "  I  kept  the 
faith.  I  paid  the  debt.  I  brought  in  conciliation  and  peace 
instead  of  war.  I  secured  in  the  practice  of  nations  the 
great  doctrine  of  expatriation.  I  devised  the  homestead 
system.  I  covered  the  prairie  and  the  plain  with  happy 
homes  and  with  mighty  states.  I  crossed  the  continent 
and  joined  together  the  seas  with  my  great  railroads.  I  de- 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  155 

clared  the  manufacturing  independence  of  America,  as  my 
fathers  affirmed  its  political  independence.  I  built  up  our 
vast  domestic  commerce.  I  made  my  country  the  richest, 
freest,  strongest,  happiest  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 

And  now  what  have  we  to  say  ?  What  have  we  to  say  ? 
Are  we  to  have  a  place  in  that  honorable  company  ?  Must 
we  engrave  on  that  column :  "  We  repealed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  We  changed  the  Monroe  doctrine  from 
a  doctrine  of  eternal  righteousness  and  justice,  resting  on 
the  consent  of  the  governed,  to  a  doctrine  of  brutal  selfish- 
ness, looking  only  to  our  own  advantage.  We  crushed  the 
only  republic  in  Asia.  We  made  war  on  the  only  Christian 
people  in  the  East.  We  converted  a  war  of  glory  to  a  war 
of  shame.  We  vulgarized  the  American  flag.  We  intro- 
duced perfidy  into  the  practice  of  war.  We  inflicted  torture 
on  unarmed  men  to  extort  confession.  We  put  children  to 
death.  We  established  reconcentrado  camps.  We  devasted 
provinces.  We  baffled  the  aspirations  of  a  people  for 
liberty." 

No.  Never!  Never!  Other  and  better  counsels  will 
yet  prevail.  The  hours  are  long  in  the  life  of  a  great 
people.  The  irrevocable  step  is  not  yet  taken. 

Let  us  at  least  have  this  to  say :  We  too  have  kept  the 
faith  of  the  fathers.  We  took  Cuba  by  the  hand.  We 
delivered  her  from  her  age-long  bondage.  We  welcomed 
her  to  the  family  of  nations.  We  set  mankind  an  example 
never  beheld  before  of  moderation  in  victory.  We  led 
hesitating  and  halting  Europe  to  the  deliverance  of  their 
beleaguered  ambassadors  in  China.  We  marched  through  a 
hostile  country  —  a  country  cruel  and  barbarous  —  without 
anger  or  revenge.  We  returned  benefit  for  injury  and  pity 


156  PUBLIC  SPEAK  I XG. 

for  cruelty.  We  made  the  name  of  America  beloved  in  the 
East  as  in  the  West.  We  kept  faith  with  the  Philippine 
people.  We  kept  faith  with  our  own  history.  We  kept  our 
national  honor  unsullied.  The  flag  which  we  received  with- 
out a  rent  we  handed  down  without  a  stain. 


AMERICA   A   WORLD   REPUBLIC. 

ALBERT    J.    BEVERIIxJI  . 

Extract  from  his  speech  opening  the  Republican  campaign,  delivered 
in  the  Auditorium  at  Chicago,  September  25,  1900. 

"  Westward  the  Star  of  Empire  takes  its  Way."  Not  the 
star  of  kingly  power,  for  kingdoms  are  everywhere  dissolv- 
ing in  the  increasing  rights  of  men;  not  the  star  of  auto- 
cratic oppression,  for  civilization  is  brightening  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people  are  broadening  under  every  flag  that 
floats.  But  the  star  of  empire,  as  Washington  used  the 
word  when  he  called  this  Republic  an  "empire";  as 
Jefferson  understood  it  when  he  declared  our  form  of 
government  ideal  for  extending  "  our  empire  " ;  as  Marshall 
understood  it,  when  he  closed  a  noble  period  of  an  immortal 
constitutional  opinion  by  naming  the  domain  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  "  our  empire."  This  is  the  "  empire  "  of  which 
the  prophetic  voice  declared  "  Westward  the  Star  of  Empire 
takes  its  Way"— the  star  of  the  empire  of  liberty  and 
law,  of  commerce  and  communication,  of  social  order  and 
the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  —  the  star  of  the  empire  of  the 
civilization  of  the  world.  Westward  that  star  of  empire 
takes  its  course.  And  to-day  it  illumines  our  path  of  duty 
across  the  Pacific  into  the  islands  and  lands  where  Provi- 


SELECTIONS  FOR    PRACTICE.  157 

dence  has  called  us.  In  that  path  the  American  government 
is  marching  forward,  opposed  at  every  step  by  those  who 
deny  the  right  of  the  Republic  to  plant  the  institutions  of 
the  flag  where  events  have  planted  that  flag  itself. 

Fellow-Americans,  this  is  no  partisan  conflict.  It  is  no 
unprecedented  struggle.  It  is  the  ever  old  and  yet  the  ever 
new,  because  the  ever  elemental  contest  between  the  forces 
of  growing  nationality  and  those  who  resist  it ;  between  the 
forces  of  extending  dominion  and  those  who  oppose  it; 
betweea  the  forces  that  are  making  us  the  master  people  of 
the  world  and  those  who  think  that  our  activities  should  be 
confined  to  this  continent  forever.  It  is  the  eternal  duel 
between  the  forces  of  progress  and  reaction,  of  construction 
and  disintegration,  of  growth  and  of  decay.  The  opponents 
of  expansion  are  and  always  have  been  sincere.  But  their 
sincerity  did  not  make  them  right.  Their  earnestness, 
ability,  courage,  could  not  give  them  victory.  They  were 
struggling  against  the  Fates.  They  were  resisting  the 
onward  forces  which  were  making  of  the  American  people 
the  master  nation  of  the  world — the  forces  that  established 
us  first  as  a  separate  politic  body,  then  welded  us  into  a 
national  unit,  indivisible;  then  extended  our  dominion 
from  ocean  to  ocean  over  unexplored  wildernesses ;  and  now 
in  the  ripeness  of  time  fling  our  authority  and  unfurl  our 
flag  almost  all  around  the  globe.  It  is  the  "  divine  event" 
of  American  sovereignty  among  the  governments  of  men 
for  which  these  forces  have  been  working  since  the  Pilgrims 
landed  on  the  red  man's  soil.  Men  —  patriotic,  brave,  and 
wise  —  have  sought  to  stay  that  tremendous  purpose  of 
destiny,  but  their  opposition  was  as  the  finger  of  a  babe 
against  the  resistless  pour  of  the  Gulf  Stream's  mighty 


158  PUBLIC  SPEAKI*<;. 

current.  For  God's  hand  was  in  it  all.  His  plans  were 
working  out  their  glorious  results.  And  just  as  futile  is 
resistance  to  the  continuance  to-day  of  the  eternal  move- 
ment of  the  American  people  toward  the  mastery  of  the 
world. 

This  is  a  destiny  neither  vague  nor  undesirable.  It  is 
definite,  splendid,  and  holy.  When  nations  shall  war  no 
more  without  the  consent  of  the  American  Republic  —  what 
American  heart  thrills  not  with  pride  at  that  prospect? 
And  yet  our  interests  are  weaving  themselves  so  rapidly 
around  the  world  that  that  time  is  almost  here.  When 
governments  stay  the  slaughter  of  human  beings,  because 
the  American  Republic  demands  it  —  what  American  heart 
thrills  not  with  pride  at  that  prospect?  And  yet  to-night 
there  sits  in  Constantinople  a  sovereign  who  knows  that 
that  time  is  nearly  here.  When  the  commerce  of  the  world 
on  which  the  world's  peace  hangs,  travelling  every  ocean 
highway  of  earth,  shall  pass  beneath  the  guns  of  the  great 
Republic — what  American  heart  thrills  not  at  that  prospect? 
Yet  that  time  will  be  here  before  the  second  administration 
of  the  last  American  President  of  the  nineteenth  century 
and  the  first  president  of  the  twentieth  century.  When 
any  changing  of  the  map  of  earth  requires  a  conference 
of  the  powers,  and  when,  at  any  congress  of  the  nations, 
the  American  Republic  will  preside  as  the  most  powerful  of 
powers  and  most  righteous  of  judges — what  American  heart 
thrills  not  at  that  prospect  ?  And  yet,  that  prospect  is  at 
hand,  even  as  I  speak.  It  is  the  high  and  holy  destiny  of 
the  American  people,  and  from  that  destiny  the  American 
bugles  will  never  sound  retreat.  "Westward  the  Star  of 
Kin] >ire  takes  its  Way," 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  159 

AMERICA  AND  INTERNATIONAL  PEACE. 

THEODORE    ROOSEVELT. 

Extract  from  a  speech  at  the  Lincoln  Club  Dinner,  in  New  York  City, 
February  IS,  1899. 

No  sensible  man  will  advocate  our  plunging  rashly  into  a 
course  of  international  knight-errantry  ;  none  will  advocate 
our  setting  deliberately  to  work  to  build  up  a  great  colonial 
empire.  But  neither  will  any  brave  and  patriotic  man  bid 
us  shrink  from  doing  our  duty  merely  because  this  duty 
involves  the  certainty  of  strenuous  effort  and  the  possi- 
bility of  danger.  Some  men  of  high  reputation,  from  high 
motives,  opposed  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  with  Spain, 
just  as  they  had  previously  opposed  the  war.  The  error 
was  almost  as  great  in  one  case  as  in  the  other  and  will  be 
so  adjudged  by  history.  But  back  of  the  high  motives  of 
these  men  lay  the  two  great  impulses  of  sloth  and  fear ;  and 
well  it  was  for  us  that  the  administration  and  the  Senate 
disregarded  them. 

We  should  not  lightly  court  danger  and  difficulty,  but 
neither  should  we  shirk  from  facing  them,  when  in  some 
way  or  other  they  must  be  met.  We  are  a  great  nation  and 
we  are  compelled,  whether  we  will  or  not,  to  face  the  respon- 
sibilities that  must  be  faced  by  all  great  nations.  It  is  not  in 
our  power  to  avoid  meeting  them.  All  that  we  can  decide 
is  whether  we  shall  meet  them  well  or  ill.  There  are  social 
reformers  who  tell  us  that  in  the  far  distant  future  the  neces- 
sity for  fighting  will  be  done  away  with,  just  as  there  are 
social  reformers  who  tell  us  that  in  that  long  distant  time 
the  necessity  for  work  —  or,  at  least,  for  painful,  laborious 


160  PUBLIC  SPEAKI.\r:. 

work  —  will  be  done  away  with.  But  just  at  present  th? 
nation,  like  the  individual,  which  is  going  to  do  anything  in 
the  world  must  face  the  fact,  that  in  order  to  do  it,  it  must 
work  and  may  have  to  fight.  And  it  is  only  thus  that  great 
deeds  can  be  done,  and  the  highest  and  purest  form  of  hap- 
piness acquired.  Remember  that  peace  itself,  that  peace 
after  which  all  men  crave,  is  merely  the  realization  in  the 
present  of  what  has  been  bought  by  strenuous  effort  in  the 
past.  Peace  represents  stored-up  effort  of  our  fathers  or  of 
ourselves  in  the  past.  It  is  not  a  means  —  it  is  an  end. 
You  do  not  get  peace  by  peace ;  you  get  peace  as  the  result 
of  effort.  If  you  strive  to  get  it  by  peace,  you  will  lose  it, 
that  is  all.  If  we  ever  grow  to  regard  peace  as  a  permanent 
condition ;  if  we  ever  grow  to  feel  that  we  can  afford  to  let 
the  keen,  fearless,  virile  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  and 
body  be  lost,  then  we  will  prepare  the  way  for  inevitable 
and  shameful  disaster  in  the  future. 

Peace  is  of  true  value  only  as  we  use  it  in  part  to  make 
ready  to  face  with  untroubled  heart,  with  fearless  front, 
whatever  the  future  may  have  in  store  for  us.  The  peace 
which  breeds  timidity  and  sloth  is  a  curse  and  not  a  bless- 
ing. The  law  of  worthy  national  life,  like  the  law  of 
worthy  individual  life,  is,  after  all,  fundamentally,  the  law 
of  strife.  It  may  be  strife  military,  it  may  be  strife  civic ; 
but  certain  it  is  that  only  through  strife,  through  labor,  and 
painful  effort,  by  grim  energy  and  by  resolute  courage,  we 
move  on  to  better  things. 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  161 


A  TALK  ON  BOOKSjf 

HENRY   DRUMMOND. 

Adapted  from  an  address  delivered  in  New  York  City,  with  a  quotation 
added  from  Richard  Le  Gallienne. 

To  fall  in  love  with  a  good  book  is  to  add  a  rich  gift  to 
life's  experiences.  It  is  to  have  a  new  influence  pouring 
itself  into  our  lives,  a  new  teacher  to  inspire  and  refine  us, 
a  new  friend  to  be  by  our  side  always,  who,  when  life  grows 
narrow  and  weary,  will  take  us  into  his  wider  and  calmer 
and  higher  world.  Whether  it  be  biography,  introducing 
hs  to  some  humble  life  made  great  by  duty  done ;  or  history, 
opening  vistas  into  the  movements  and  destinies  of  nations 
that  have  passed  away ;  or  poetry,  making  music  of  all  the 
common  things  around  us,  and  filling  the  fields,  and  the 
skies,  and  the  work  of  the  city  and  the  cottage,  with  eternal 
meaning  —  whether  it  be  these,  or  story-books,  or  religious 
books,  or  science,  no  one  can  become  the  friend  of  one  good 
book  without  being  made  wiser  and  better. 

^  would  not  presume  to  recommend  such  a  book  to  you. 
The  beauty  of  a  friend  is  that  we  discover  him.  And  we 
must  each  taste  the  books  that  are  accessible  to  us  for  our- 
selves. Do  not  be  disheartened  at  first  if  you  like  none  of 
them.  That  is  possibly  their  fault,  not  yours.  But  search 
and  search  till  you  find  what  you  like.  In  amazingly  cheap 
form  almost  all  the  best  books  are  now  to  be  had ;  and  I 
think  every  one  owes  it  as  a  sacred  duty  to  his  mind  to  start 
a  little  library  of  his  own.  How  much  do  we  not  do  for  our 
bodies  ?  How  much  thought  and  money  do  they  not  cost 
us  ?  And  shall  we  not  think  a  little,  and  pay  a  little,  for 


162  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

the  clothing  and  adorning  of  the  imperishable  mind  ?  This 
private  library  may  begin,  perhaps,  with  a  single  volume, 
and  grow  at  the  rate  of  one  or  two  a  year ;  but  these,  well 
chosen  and  well  mastered,  will  become  such  a  fountain  of 
strength  and  wisdom  that  each  shall  be  glad  to  add  to  his 
store. 

A  dozen  books  accumulated  in  this  way  may  be  better 
than  a  whole  library.  Do  not  be  distressed  if  you  do  not 
like  time-honored  books,  or  classical  works,  or  recommended 
books.  Choose  for  yourself;  plant  yourself  on  your  own 
instincts ;  that  which  is  natural  for  us,  that  which  nourishes 
us  and  gives  us  appetite,  is  that  which  is  right  for  us.  We 
have  all  different  minds,  and  we  are  all  at  different  stages 
of  growth.  Some  other  day  we  may  find  food  in  the  recom- 
mended book,  though  we  should  possibly  starve  on  it  to-day. 
The  mind  develops  and  changes,  and  the  favorites  of  this 
year  may  one  day  cease  to  interest  us.  Nothing  better,  in- 
deed, can  happen  to  u$  than  to  lose  interest  in  a  book  we 
have  often  read ;  for  it  means  that  it  has  done  its  work  upon 
us,  and  brought  us  up  to  its  level,  and  taught  us  all  it  had 
to  teach. 

"Old  Books  to  Read"  — "Old  Friends  to  Trust"  — how 
can  we  estimate  their  value  ? 

"  Books !  those  miraculous  memories  of  high  thoughts  and 
golden  moods ;  those  silver  shells,  tremulous  with  the  won- 
derful secrets  of  ocean  life ;  those  love-letters  that  pass  from 
hand  to  hand  of  a  thousand  lovers  that  never,  meet;  those 
honeycombs  of  dreams  ;  those  orchards  of  knowledge ;  those 
still-beating  hearts  of  the  noble  dead ;  those  mysterious  sig- 
nals that  beckon  along  the  darksome  pathways  of  the  past; 
voices  through  which  the  myriad  whisperings  of  the  earth 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  163 

find  perfect  speech;  oracles  through  which  its  mysteries  call 
like  voices  in  moonlit  woods  ;  prisms  of  beauty;  urns  stored 
with  all  the  sweets  of  all  the  summers  of  time ;  immortal 
nightingales  that  sing  forever  to  the  roses  of  life  —  Books ! " 


THE  MASTERPIECE  OF  GOD. 

ELBERT    HUBBARI). 

Extract  from   an   essay  on   Leonardo  da  Vinci  in   Volume   X  of 
'•'•Little  Journeys,"  February,  1902. 

The  human  face  is  the  masterpiece  of  God. 

A  woman's  smile  may  have  in  it  more  sublimity  than  a 
sunset ;  more  pathos  than  a  battle-scarred  landscape ;  more 
warmth  than  the  sun's  bright  rays ;  more  love  than  words 
can  say.  The  human  face  is  the  masterpiece  of  God. 

The  eyes  reveal  the  soul,  the  mouth  the  flesh,  the  chin 
stands  for  purpose,  the  nose  means  will.  But  over  and  be- 
hind all  is  that  fleeting  Something  we  call  "expression." 
This  Something  is  not  set  or  fixed;  it  is  fluid  as  the  ether, 
changeful  as  the  clouds  that  move  in  mysterious  majesty 
across  the  surface  of  a  summer  sky,  subtle  as  the  sob  of 
rustling  leaves,  —  too  faint  at  times  for  human  ears, — elusive 
as  the  ripples  that  play  hide-and-seek  over  the  bosom  of  a 
placid  lake. 

And  yet  men  have  caught  expression  and  held  it  captive. 
On  the  walls  of  the  Louvre  hangs  the  "Mona  Lisa"  of 
Leonardo  da  Vinci.  This  picture  has  been  for  four  hundred 
years  an  exasperation  and  an  inspiration  to  every  portrait- 
painter  who  has  put  brush  to  palette.  Well  does  Walter 
Pater  call  it  "The  Despair  of  Painters."  The  artist  was 


164  PUBLIC  SPKAKI\<;. 

over  fifty  years  of  age  when  ho  be<:an  the  work,  and  he  was 
four  years  in  completing  the  task. 

Completing,  did  I  say?  Leonardo's  dying  regret  was 
that  he  had  not  completed  this  picture.  And  yet  we  might 
say  of  it,  as  Ruskiu  said  of  Turner's  work,  "By  no  conceiv- 
able stretch  of  the  imagination  can  we  say  where  this  picture 
can  be  bettered  or  improved  upon." 

There  is  in  the  face  all  you  can  read  into  it  and  nothing 
more.  It  gives  yon  what  you  bring  and  nothing  else.  It 
is  as  silent  as  the  lips  of  Memnon,  as  voiceless  as  the  Sphinx. 
It  suggests  to  you  every  joy  that  you  have  ever  felt,  every 
sorrow  you  have  ever  known,  every  triumph  you  have  ever 
experienced. 

This  woman  is  beautiful,  just  as  all  life  is  beautiful  when 
we  are  in  health.  She  has  no  quarrel  with  the  world  —  she 
loves  and  she  is  loved  again.  No  vain  longing  fills  her 
heart,  no  feverish  unrest  disturbs  her  dreams,  for  her  no 
crouching  fears  haunt  the  passing  hours  —  that  ineffable 
smile  which  plays  around  her  mouth  says  plainly  that  life 
is  good.  And  yet  the  circles  about  the  eyes  and  the  droop- 
ing lids  hint  of  world-weariness  and  speak  the  message  of 
Koheleth,  and  say,  "  Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity." 

"  La  Gioconda  "  is  infinitely  wise,  for  she  has  lived.  That 
supreme  poise  is  only  possible  to  one  who  knows.  All  the 
experiences  and  emotions  of  manifold  existence  have  etched 
and  moulded  that  form  and  face  until  the  body  has  become 
the  perfect  instrument  of  the  soul. 

Back  of  her  stretches  her  life,  a  mysterious  purple  shadow. 
Do  you  not  see  the  palaces  turned  to  dust,  the  broken  col- 
umns, the  sunken  treasures,  the  creeping  mosses,  and  the 
rank  ooze  of  fretted  waters  that  have  undermined  cities  and 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  16/5 

turned  kingdoms  into  desert  seas?  The  galleys  of  pagan 
Greece  have  swung  wide  for  her  on  the  nnforgetting  tide,  for 
her  soul  dwelt  in  the  body  of  Helen  of  Troy,  and  Pallas 
Athene  has  followed  her  ways  and  whispered  to  her  even 
the  secrets  of  the  gods.  Aye !  not  only  was  she  Helen,  but 
she  was  Leda,  the  mother  of  Helen.  Then  she  was  St.  Anne, 
mother  of  Mary ;  and  next  she  was  Mary,  visited  by  an  angel 
in  a  dream,  and  followed  by  the  wise  men  who  had  seen  the 
Star  in  the  East.  The  centuries,  that  are  but  thoughts,  found 
her  a  Vestal  Virgin  in  pagan  Rome,  when  brutes  were  kings 
and  lust  stalked  rampant  through  the  streets.  She  was  the 
bride  of  Christ  and  her  fair  frail  body  was  flung  to  the  wild 
beasts,  and  torn  limb  from  limb  while  the  multitude  feasted 
on  the  sight. 

True  to  the  central  impulse  of  her  soul  the  Dark  Ages 
rightly  called  her  Cecilia,  and  then  St.  Cecilia,  mother  of 
sacred  music,  and  later  she  ministered  to  men  as  Melania, 
the  Nun  of  Tagaste ;  next  as  the  daughter  of  William  the 
Conqueror,  the  Sister  of  Charity  who  went  through  Italy, 
Spain,  and  France,  and  taught  the  women  of  the  nunneries 
how  to  sew,  to  weave,  to  embroider,  to  illuminate  books  and 
make  beauty,  truth,  and  harmony  manifest  to  human  eyes. 
And  so  this  Lady  of  the  Beautiful  Hands  stood  to  Leonardo 
as  the  embodiment  of  a  perpetual  life ;  moving  in  a  con- 
stantly ascending  scale,  gathering  wisdom,  graciousness,  love, 
even  as  he  himself  in  this  life  met  every  experience  half- 
way and  counted  it  joy,  knowing  that  experience  is  the  germ 
of  power. 

Life  writes  its  history  upon  the  face,  so  that  all  those 
who  have  had  a  like  experience  read  and  understand.  The 
human  face  is  the  masterpiece  of  God. 


166  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

PUBLIC   OPINION   AND   AGITATION. 

WENDELL    PHILLIPS. 

An  extract  from  his  lecture  on  "Public  Opinion." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  freer  a  nation  becomes,  the 
more  utterly  democratic  the  form  of  its  institutions,  outside 
agitation  —  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  to  direct  political 
action  —  becomes  more  and  more  necessary.  In  a  country 
like  ours,  of  absolute  democratic  equality,  public  opinion  is 
not  only  omnipotent,  it  is  omnipresent.  There  is  no  refuge 
from  its  tyranny ;  there  is  no  hiding  from  its  reach ;  and 
the  result  is  that,  if  you  take  the  old  Greek  lantern,  and  go 
about  to  seek  among  a  hundred,  you  will  find  not  one  single 
American  who  really  has  not,  or  who  does  not  fancy  at  least 
that  he  has,  something  to  gain  or  lose  in  his  ambition,  his 
social  life,  or  his  business,  from  the  good  opinion  and  the 
votes  of  those  about  him.  And  the  consequence  is,  that,  — 
instead  of  being  a  mass  of  individuals,  each  one  fearlessly 
blurting  out  his  own  convictions, —  as  a  nation,  compared 
with  other  nations,  we  are  a  mass  of  cowards.  More  than 
any  other  people,  we  are  afraid  of  each  other. 

If  you  were  a  caucus  to-night,  Democratic  or  Republican, 
and  I  were  your  orator,  none  of  you  could  get  beyond  the 
necessary  and  timid  limitations  of  party.  You  not  only 
would  not  demand,  you  would  not  allow  me  to  utter,  one 
word  of  what  you  really  thought  and  what  I  thought.  You 
would  demand  of  me  —  and  my  value  as  a  caucus  speaker 
would  depend  entirely  on  the  adroitness  and  the  vigilance 
with  which  I  met  the  demand  —  that  I  should  not  utter  one 
single  word  which  would  compromise  the  vote  of  next  week. 


SELECTIONS   FOR   PRACTICE.  167 

That  is  politics ;  so  with  the  press.  Seemingly  independent, 
and  sometimes  really  so,  the  press  can  afford  only  to  mount 
the  cresting  wave,  not  go  beyond  it.  The  editor  might  as 
well  shoot  his  reader  with  a  bullet  as  with  a  new  idea.  He 
must  hit  the  exact  line  of  the  opinion  of  the  day. 

This  is  the  inevitable,  the  essential  limitation  of  the  press 
in  a  republican  community.  Our  institutions,  floating  un- 
anchored  on  the  shifting  surface  of  popular  opinion,  cannot 
afford  to  hold  back,  or  to  draw  forward,  a  hated  question 
and  compel  a  reluctant  public  to  look  at  it  and  to  consider 
it.  Hence,  as  you  see  at  once,  the  moment  a  large  issue, 
twenty  years  ahead  of  its  age,  presents  itself  to  the  con- 
sideration of  an  empire  or  of  a  republic,  just  in  proportion 
to  the  freedom  of  its  institutions  is  the  necessity  of  a  plat- 
form outside  of  the  press,  of  politics,  and  of  its  church 
whereon  stand  men  with  no  candidate  to  elect,  with  no  plan 
to  carry,  with  no  reputation  to  stake,  with  no  object  but  the 
truth,  no  purpose  but  to  tear  the  question  open  and  let  the 
light  through  it. 

So  much  in  explanation  of  a  word  infinitely  hated, — 
agitation  and  agitators,  —  but  an  element  which  the  progress 
of  modern  government  has  developed  more  and  more  every 
day.  Kepublics  exist  only  on  the  tenure  of  being  constantly 
agitated.  The  republic  which  sinks  to  sleep,  trusting  to 
constitutions  and  machinery,  to  politicians  and  statesmen, 
for  the  safety  of  its  liberties,  never  will  have  any.  We  must 
live  like  our  Puritan  fathers,  who  always  went  to  church 
and  sat  down  to  dinner,  when  the  Indians  were  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, with  their  musket-lock  on  the  one  side  and  a  drawn 
sword  on  the  other.  No,  there  is  no  Canaan  in  politics.  As 
health  lies  in  labor,  and  there  is  no  royal  road  to  it  but 


168  PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

through  toil,  so  there  is  no  republican  road  to  safety  but  in 
constant  distrust.  u  In  distrust,''  said  Demosthenes,  ••  an- 
the  nerves  of  the  mind."  Let  us  see  to  it  that  these  sentinel 
nerves  are  ever  on  the  alert.  If  the  Alps,  piled  in  cold  and 
still  sublimity,  be  the  emblem  of  Despotism,  the  ever  rest- 
less ocean  is  ours,  which,  girt  within  the  eternal  laws  of 
gravitation,  is  pure  only  because  never  still. 


THE  TRIUMPH   OF   TRUTH. 

THOMAS    CARLYI.K. 

Adapted  from  "  Past  and  Present." 

In  this  —  God's  —  world,  with  its  wild,  whirling  eddies 
and  mad,  foam  oceans,  where  men  and  nations  perish  as  if-, 
without  law,  and  judgment  for  an  unjust  thing  is  sternly 
delayed,  dost  thou  think  that  there  is  therefore  no  justice  ? 
It  is  what  the  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart.  It  is  what  the 
wise,  in  all  times,  were  wise  because  they  denied  and  knew 
forever  not  to  be.  I  tell  thee  again,  there  is  nothing  else 
but  justice.  One  strong  thing  I  find  here  below:  the  just 
thing,  the  true  thing. 

My  friend,  if  thou  hadst  all  the  artillery  of  Woohvjch 
trundling  at  thy  back  in  support  of  an  unjust  thing,  and 
infinite  bonfires  visibly  waiting  ahead  of  thee  to  blaze  centu- 
ries long  for  the  victory  on  behalf  of  it,  I  would  advise  thee 
to  call  halt,  to  fling  down  thy  baton,  and  say,  "  In  Heaven's 
name,  no ! " 

Thy  "success"?  Poor  devil,  what  will  thy  success 
amount  to  ?  If  the  thing  is  unjust,  thou  hast  not  succeeded ; 
no,  not  though  bonfires  blazed  from  north  to  south,  and  bells 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  169 

rang,  and  editors  wrote  leading  articles,  and  the  just  things 
lay  trampled  out  of  sight,  —  to  all  mortal  eyes  an  abolished 
and  annihilated  thing.  .  .  . 

For  it  is  the  right  and  noble  alone  that  will  have  victory 
in  this  struggle ;  the  rest  is  wholly  an  obstruction,  a  post- 
ponement, a  fearful  iinperilrnent  of  the  victory.  Toward 
an  eternal  centre  of  right  and  nobleness,  and  of  that  only,  is 
all  confusion  tending.  We  already  know  whither  it  is  all 
tending ;  what  will  have  victory,  what  will  have  none !  The 
heaviest  will  reach  the  centre.  The  heaviest  has  its  deflec- 
tions; its  obstructions;  nay,  at  times  its  reboundings,  its 
resiliences,  whereupon  some  blockhead  shall  be  heard  jubi- 
lating, "  See,  your  heaviest  ascends  ! "  but  at  all  moments  it 
is  moving  centreward,  fast  as  is  convenient  for  it ;  sinking, 
sinking ;  and,  by  laws  older  than  the  world,  old  as  the  Maker's 
first  plan  of  the  world,  it  has  to  arrive  there. 

Await  the  issue.  In  all  battles,  if  you  await  the  issue, 
each  fighter  has  prospered  according  to  his  right.  His  right 
and  his  might,  at  the  close  of  the  account,  were  one  and  the 
same.  He  has  fought  with  all  his  might,  and  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  all  his  right  he  has  prevailed.  His  very  death  is 
no  victory  over  him.  He  dies  indeed ;  but  his  work  lives, 
very  truly  lives. 

Fight  on,  thou  brave,  true  heart ;  and  falter  not,  through 
dark  fortune  and  through  bright.  The  cause  thou  fightest 
for,  so  far  as  it  is  true,  no  further,  yet  precisely  so  far,  is 
very  sure  of  victory.  The  falsehood  alone  of  it  will  be  con- 
quered, will  be  abolished,  as  it  ought  to  be ;  but  the  truth  of 
it  is  part  of  Nature's  own  laws,  cooperates  with  the  world's 
eternal  tendencies,  and  cannot  be  conquered. 


170  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

CHARACTER   ESSENTIAL  FOR   A   GREAT   LAWYER. 

WENDELL    PHILLIPS. 

Selected  from  his  lecture  on  "  Idols." 

It  is  a  grave  thing  when  a  state  puts  a  man  among  her 
jewels,  the  glitter  of  whose  fame  makes  doubtful  acts  look 
heroic.  The  honors  we  grant  mark  how  high  we  stand  and 
they  educate  the  future.  The  men  we  honor  and  the  max- 
ims we  lay  down  in  measuring  our  favorites  show  the  level 
and  morals  of  the  time.  A  name  has  been  in  every  one's 
mouth  of  late,  and  men  have  exhausted  language  in  trying 
to  express  their  admiration  and  respect.  The  courts  have 
covered  the  grave  of  Mr.  Choate  with  eulogy.  Let  us  see 
what  is  their  idea  of  a  great  lawyer.  We  are  told  that  "  he 
worked  hard,"  "he  never  neglected  his  client,"  "he  flung 
over  the  discussions  of  the  forum  the  grace  of  a  rare 
scholarship."  "  No  pressure  or  emergency  ever  stirred  him 
to  an  unkind  word."  A  ripe  scholar,  a  profound  lawyer,  a 
faithful  servant  to  his  client,  a  gentleman.  This  is  a  good 
record,  surely.  May  he  sleep  in  peace.  \Yliut  he  earned 
God  grant  he  may  have.  But  the  bar  that  seeks  to  claim 
for  such  a  one  a  place  among  great  jurists  must  itself  be 
weak  indeed.  Not  one  high  moral  trait  specified ;  not  one 
patriotic  act  mentioned;  not  one  patriotic  service  even 
claimed.  Look  at  Mr.  Webster's  idea  of  what  a  lawyer 
should  be  in  order  to  be  called  great,  in  the  sketch  he  drew 
of  Jeremiah  Mason,  and  notice  what  stress  he  lays  upon 
the  religious  and  moral  elevation  and  the  glorious  and  high 
purposes  which  crown  his  life.  Nothing  of  this  now; 
nothing  but  incessant  eulogy.  But  not  a  word  of  one 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  171 

effort  to  lift  the  yoke  of  cruel  or  unequal  legislation  from 
the  neck  of  its  victim  ;  not  one  attempt  to  make  the  code  01 
his  country  wiser,  purer,  better ;  not  one  effort  to  bless  his 
times  or  breathe  a  higher  moral  purpose  into  the  com- 
munity. Not  one  blow  struck  for  right  or  for  liberty,  while 
the  battle  of  the'  giants  was  going  on  about  him ;  not  one 
patriotic  act  to  stir  the  hearts  of  his  idolaters ;  not  one  pub- 
lic act  of  any  kind  whatever  about  whose  merit  friend  or 
foe  could  even  quarrel,  unless  when  he  scouted  our  great 
charter  as  a  glittering  generality,  or  jeered  at  the  philan- 
thropy which  tried  to  practise  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

When  Cordus,  the  Roman  senator,  whom  Tiberius  mur- 
dered, was  addressing  his  fellows,  he  began,  "Fathers, 
they  accuse  me  of  illegal  words ;  plain  proof  that  there  are 
no  illegal  deeds  with  which  to  charge  me."  So  with  these 
eulogies.  Words,  nothing  but  words ;  plain  proof  that  there 
were  no  deeds  to  praise.  Yet  this  is  the  model  which  Mas- 
sachusetts offers  to  the  Pantheon  of  the  great  jurists  of  the 
world ! 

Suppose  we  stood  in  that  lofty  temple  of  jurisprudence, — 
on  either  side  of  us  the  statues  of  the  great  lawyers  of 
every  state  and  clime,— and  let  us  see  what  part  New  Eng- 
land —  Puritan,  educated,  free  New  England  —  would  bear 
in  the  pageant. 

Rome  points  to  a  colossal  figure  and  says,  "  That  is  Papin- 
'ian,  who,  when  the  Emperor  Caracella  murdered  his  own 
brother,  and  ordered  the  lawyer  to  defend  the  deed,  went 
cheerfully  to  death,  rather  than  sully  his  lips  with  the 
atrocious  plea;  and  that  is  Ulpian,  who,  aiding  his  prince 
to  put  the  army  below  the  law,  was  massacred  at  the  foot  of 
a  weak  but  virtuous  throne." 


172  PUBLK     SPEAKING. 

And  France  stretches  forth  JUT  grateful  hands, 
"That  is  D'Aguesseau,  worthy,  when  he  went  to  face  an 
enraged  king,  of  the  farewell  his  wife  addressed  him.  •«;«.. 
forget  that  you  have  a  wife  and  children  to  ruin,  and 
remember  only  that  you  have  France  to  save/  " 

England  says :  "  That  is  Coke,  who  flung  the  laurels  of 
eighty  years  in  the  face  of  the  first  Stuart,  in  defence  of  the 
people.  This  is  Selden,  on  every  book  of  whose  library  you 
saw  written  the  motto  of  which  he  lived  worthy,  'IMoiv 
everything,  liberty!'  That  is  Mansfield,  silver  tongued, 
who  proclaimed,  '  Slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England ;  if 
their  lungs  receive  our  air,  that  moment  they  are  free.' " 

Then  New  England  shouts,  "  This  is  Choate,  who  made 
it  safe  to  murder,  and  of  whose  health  thieves  asked  before 
they  began  to  steal ! " 


JURY    ADDRESS. 

DANIKI.    NVF.ll-iTKR. 

An  fjrtrnrtfmm  At'«  speech  in  the  \Vhit*  Murder  Trial. 

Gentlemen,  this  is  a  most  extraordinary  case.  In  some 
respects  it  has  hardly  a  precedent  anywhere,  certainly  none 
in  our  New  England  history.  This  bloody  drama  exhibited 
no  suddenly  excited,  ungovernable  rage.  It  was  a  cool,  cal- 
culating, money-making  murder.  It  was  the  weighing  of 
money  against  life ;  the  counting  out  of  so  many  pieces  of 
silver  against  so  many  ounces  of  blood. 

An  aged  man,  without  an  enemy  in  the  world,  in  his 
own  house  and  in  his  own  bed,  is  made  the  victim  of 
a  butcherly  murder  for  mere  pay.  Truly,  here  is  a  new 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  173 

lesson  for  painters  and  poets.  Whoever  shall  here- 
after draw  the  portrait  of  murder,  let  him  not  give  it  the 
grim  visage  of  Moloch,  —  the  brow  knitted  by  revenge,  the 
face  black  with  settled  hate,  and  the  bloodshot  eye  emitting 
livid  fires  of  malice.  Let  him  draw  rather  a  decorous, 
smooth-faced,  bloodless  demon ;  a  picture  in  repose  rather 
than  in  action ;  not  so  much  an  example  of  human  nature 
in  its  depravity  and  in  its  paroxyms  of  crime,  as  an  infernal 
being,  a  fiend,  in  the  ordinary  display  and  development  of 
his  character. 

The  circumstances  now  clearly  in  evidence  spread  out 
the  whole  scene  before  us.  Deep  sleep  had  fallen  on  the 
destined  victim  and  on  all  beneath  his  roof.  A  healthful  old 
man  to  whom  sleep  was  sweet,  the  first  sound  slumbers  of 
the  night  held  him.  in  their  soft  but  strong  embrace.  The 
assassin  enters,  through  the  window  already  prepared,  into 
an  unoccupied  apartment.  With  noiseless  foot  he  paces  the 
lonely  hall  half  lighted  by  the  moon.  He  winds  up  the 
ascent  of  the  stairs  and  reaches  the  door  of  the  chamber. 
He  enters  and  beholds  his  victim  before  him.  The  face  of  the 
innocent  sleeper  is  turned  from  the  murderer,  and  the  beams 
of  the  moon,  resting  on  the  gray  locks  of  the  aged  temples, 
show  him  where  to  strike.  The  fatal  blow  is  given.  With- 
out a  struggle  or  a  motion  the  victim  passes  from  the 
repose  of  sleep  to  the  repose  of  death.  The  murderer 
retreats,  retraces  his  steps  to  the  window,  passes  out  through 
it  as  he  came  in,  and  escapes. 

He  has  done  the  deed.  No  eye  has  seen  him,  no  ear  has 
heard  him,  the  secret  is  his  own  and  it  is  safe.  Ah ! 
Gentlemen,  that  was  a  dreadful  mistake.  Such  a  secret 
can  be  safe  nowhere.  The  whole  creation  of  God  has 


174  PUBLIC  8PEAKI.\'.. 

neither  nook  nor  corner  where  the  guilty  can  bestow  it  and 
say  it  is  safe.  A  thousand  eyes  turn  at  once  to  explore 
every  man,  every  thing,  every  circumstance,  connected  with 
the  time  and  place ;  a  thousand  ears  catch  every  whisper ;  a 
thousand  excited  minds  intensely  dwell  on  the  scene,  shed- 
ding all  their  light,  and  ready  to  kindle  the  slightest  circum- 
stance into  a  blaze  of  discovery.  Meantime  the  guilty  soul 
cannot  keep  its  own  secret.  It  is  false  to  itself;  or,  rather, 
it  feels  an  irresistible  impulse  of  conscience  to  be  true  to 
itself.  It  labors  under  its  guilty  possession  and  knows  not 
what  to  do  with  it.  The  human  heart  was  not  made  for 
the  residence  of  such  an  inhabitant.  The  secret  which  the 
murderer  possesses  soon  comes  to  possess  him,  and,  like  the 
evil  spirits  of  which  we  read,  it  overcomes  him  and  leads 
him  whithersoever  it  will.  He  feels  it  beating  at  his  heart, 
rising  to  his  throat,  and  demanding  disclosure.  He  thinks 
the  whole  world  sees  it  in  his  face,  reads  it  in  his  eyes,  and 
almost  hears  its  workings  in  the  very  silence  of  his  thoughts. 
It  has  become  his  master.  It  betrays  his  discretion,  it 
breaks  down  his  courage,  it  conquers  his  prudence.  When 
suspicions  from  without  begin  to  embarrass  him,  and  the  net 
of  circumstance  to  entangle  him,  the  fatal  secret  struggles 
with  still  greater  violence  to  burst  forth.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed, it  will  be  confessed ;  there  is  no  refuge  from  confes- 
sion but  suicide,  and  suicide  is  confession. 

GeiitlfuuMi.  your  whole  concern  in  this  case  should  be  to 
do  your  duty,  and  let  consequences  take  care  of  themselves. 
You  will  receive  the  law  from  the  court.  Your  verdict,  it 
is  true,  may  endanger  the  prisoner's  life,  but  then  it  is  to 
save  other  lives.  If  the  prisoner's  guilt  has  been  shown 
and  proved  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  you  will  convict 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  175 

him.  If  such  reasonable  doubt  of  guilt  still  remains,  you 
will  acquit  him.  You  are  the  judges  of  the  whole  case 
You  owe  a  duty  to  the  public  as  well  as  to  the  prisoner  at 
the  bar.  You  cannot  presume  to  be  wiser  than  the  law. 
Your  duty  is  a  plain,  straightforward  one.  Doubtless  we 
would  all  judge  him  in  mercy.  Toward  him  as  an  individual 
the  law  inculcates  no  hostility ;  but  toward  him,  if  proven  to 
be  a  murderer,  the  law,  and  the  oaths  you  have  taken,  and 
public  justice,  demand  that  you  do  your  duty. 

With  consciences  satisfied  with  the  discharge  of  duty,  no 
consequences  can  harm  you.  There  is  no  evil  that  we  cannot 
either  face  or  fly  from  but  the  consciousness  of  duty  disre- 
garded. A  sense  of  duty  pursues  us  ever.  It  is  omnipres- 
ent like  the  Deity.  If  we  take  to  ourselves  the  wings  of 
the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea, 
duty  performed,  or  duty  violated,  is  still  with  us,  for  our 
happiness  or  our  misery.  If  we  say  the  darkness  shall 
cover  us,  in  the  darkness  as  in  the  light  our  obligations  are 
yet  with  us.  We  cannot  escape  their  power  nor  fly  from 
their  presence.  They  are  with  us  in  this  life,  will  be  with 
us  at  its  close ;  and  in  that  scene  of  inconceivable  solemnity, 
which  lies  yet  farther  onward,  we  shall  still  find  ourselves 
surrounded  by  the  consciousness  of  duty,  to  pain  us  wher- 
ever it  has  been  violated,  and  to  console  us  so  far  as  God 
may  have  given  us  grace  to  perform  it. 


176  •    PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

THE   GREAT  CHARTER. 

U.    M.    ROSE. 

Extract  from  a  paper  on   "  The  Rise  of  Constitutional  Law,"  read 
before  the  Pennsylvania  State  Bar  Association,  June  25,  1901. 

No  one  can  sura  up  the  debt  that  we  owe  to  the  Ma^na 
<  'harta,  the  one  great  product  of  the  Middle  Ages.  We  look 
back  with  feelings  of  aversion  and  pity  to  that  dark  and 
troubled  period;  to  its  insane  crusades,  to  its  fanatical 
intolerance,  to  its  pedantic  and  barren  literature,  to  its 
scholastic  disputes,  to  its  cruelty,  rapine,  and  bloodshed. 
But  the  genius  that  presides  over  human  destiny  never 
sleeps ;  and  it  was  precisely  in  that  most  sterile  and  unprom- 
ising age  that  the  groundwork  was  laid  for  all  that  is  valu- 
able in  modern  civilization.  As  an  unborn  forest  sleeps 
unconsciously  in  an  acorn  cup,  all  the  creations  and  all  the 
potentialities  of  that  civilization  lay  enfolded  in  the  guar- 
anty of  personal  liberty  and  of  the  supremacy  of  the  la\v  that 
was  secured  at  Runnymede.  The  various  bills  and  peti- 
tions of  right,  and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  while  they  have 
given  new  sanctions  to  liberty,  are  but  echoes  of  the  Great 
Charter;  and  our  Declaration  of  Independence  is  but  the 
Magna  Charta  writ  large,  and  expanded  to  meet  the  wants 
of  a  new  generation  of  freemen,  fighting  the  battle  of  life 
beneath  other  skies. 

••  Worth  all  the  classics ! "  Yes,  the  classics  that  have 
survived  and  the  classics  that  have  perished.  Dear  as 
might  be  to  us  the  lost  books  of  Livy,  whose  pictured  page 
is  torn  just  where  its  highest  interest  begins,  or  even  some 
song  of  Homer,  which,  now  lost  in  space,  shall  charm  the 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  177 

ear  and  bewitch  the  human  heart  no  more,  we  could  not 
exchange  for  them  a  single  word  of  those  uncouth  but  grand 
old  sentences,  which,  having  taken  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing, have  incorporated  themselves  with  almost  every  system 
of  laws  in  Christendom,  and  which  still  ring  out  in  our 
American  constitutions  with  a  sound  like  that  of  the  tram- 
pling of  armed  men,  marching  confidently  up  to  battle ;  words 
which  for  ages  have  stayed  the  hand  of  tyranny,  and  which 
have  extended  their  protection  over  the  infant  sleeping  in 
its  cradle,  over  the  lonely,  the  desolate,  the  sorrowful,  and 
the  oppressed.  Uttered  by  unwilling  lips,  and  believed  by 
the  wretch  from  whom  it  was  extorted  that  it  had  scarcely 
an  hour  to  live,  the  Magna  Charta  marks  an  epoch  in  the 
annals  of  mankind.  It  began  a  revolution  that  has  never 
gone  backward  for  a  single  moment ;  and  was  the  precursor 
of  that  civilization  the  dawn  of  which  our  eyes  have  looked 
upon  with  joy  and  pride,  and  whose  full  meridian  splendor 
can  be  foreseen  by  God  alone. 


TRAINING   FOR  THE   LEGAL   PROFESSION. 

EDWARD    J.    PHELP8. 

Extract  from  an  address  to  the  graduating  class  of  the  Boston 
University  School  of  Law,  June  5,  1879. 

The  success  of  the  lawyer  in  the  long  run,  and  the  best 
run,  and  the  only  run  that  is  worth  regarding,  is  exactly 
commensurate  with  his  absolute,  unflexible,  unqualified  de- 
votion to  the  truth.  The  world  has  amused  itself,  and  I 
suppose  will  continue  to  amuse  itself,  with  a  good  deal  of 
cheap  wit  on  this  subject.  Many  people  think  the  lawyer 


178  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

has  nothing  to  do  with  the  truth ;  that  his  business  is  to 
pervert  it,  to  distort  it,  to  evade  it,  to  crown  it  with  the 
thorns  of  all  manner  of  technicalities,  and  to  crucify  it 
between  two  thieves.  Well,  that  is  very  amusing,  doubt- 
less; but  it  is  a  serious  mistake.  For  your  success,  I  repeat, 
will  be  in  proportion  to  the  extent  to  which  you  become,  not 
only  the  students,  but  the  champions,  the  advocates,  the 
living  examples,  in  all  respects  and  particulars,  of  the  truth. 
Another  great  requisite  of  the  lawyer  is  that  rare  quality 
that  may  be  called  intellectual  honesty.  It  is  a  mental  and 
not  a  moral  quality.  Of  course,  it  is  one  which  involves 
high  moral  integrity.  Hut  those  who  are  honest  in  inten- 
tions and  purposes,  merely,  may  fall  far  short  of  it.  By 
"  intellectual  honesty  "  I  mean  the  faculty  of  seeing  things 
just  as  they  are,  —  unmoved  by  prejudice,  or  passion,  or  ex- 
citement, or  clamor, — seeing  them,  and  reaching  conclusions 
in  regard  to  them,  in  a  straightforward  and  direct  way. 
That  is  the  leading  characteristic  of  every  great  lawyer  or 
great  judge  that  has  ever  lived,  and  the  want  of  it  is  the 
reason  the  world  has  seen  so  many  good  lawyers  and  good 
judges  and  so  few  great  ones.  It  is  the  rarest  of  qualities 
in  its  perfection,  and  the  first  to  be  recognized  by  mankind 
when  it  exists.  Perhaps  the  most  illustrious  example  there 
has  ever  been,  among  many  illustrious  examples  of  that 
quality,  was  Chief  Justice  Marshall  —  that  magistrate  of 
all  magistrates — whose  splendid  judgments  have  entered, 
not  only  into  the  jurisprudence,  but  into  the  history  and 
literature  of  our  country.  When  the  construction  of  the 
American  Constitution  was  a  thing  of  doubt ;  when  the  Con- 
stitution itself  —  its  success,  its  practicability  —  was  ques- 
tioned; when  men's  minds  were  wrought  up  to  the  highest 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  179 

pitch  of  political  and  personal  excitement,  those  great  judg- 
ments of  Marshall  and  his  compeers  ended  all  dispute.  No 
man  went  away  cursing  the  court  and  resolved  to  renew  the 
quarrel.  The  defeated  side  went  away  admitting  that  they 
had  been  mistaken.  That  illustrates  the  idea  that  I  ad- 
vanced just  now :  that  this  quality,  when  it  exists  in  a  high 
degree,  is  universally  recognized  by  mankind  and  commands 
immediate  confidence. 

Finally,  no  lawyer  can  attain  the  highest  rank  in  his  pro- 
fession unless  he  is  an  effective  speaker.  Ideas,  if  they  are 
to  be  expressed,  and  enforced,  and  maintained,  require  the 
means  of  expression.  Advocacy,  in  its  lawyer-like  sense, 
in  the  sense  that  courts  of  justice  and  competent  lawyers 
appreciate,  means  the  power  of  clear  and  lucid  statement, 
cogent,  effective,  effectual  reasoning,  pertinent  illustration, 
felicitous  presentation.  What  it  does  not  mean,  but 
what  a  great  many  people  seem  to  think  it  does  mean,  is 
the  everlasting  talk  of  the  men  who  have  nothing  to  say. 
Certainly,  the  first  requisite  of  the  successful  speaker  is 
to  have  something  to  say.  Until  a  man  is  furnished  with 
ideas,  there  is  no  precedent  justifying  the  opening  of  his 
mouth.  If  there  is  any  nuisance  more  insufferable  than  all 
other  insufferable  nuisances,  it  is  that  advocate  —  the  terror 
of  unhappy  courts  of  justice  —  who  is  popularly  said  to 
have  the  "  gift  of  gab,"  that  is,  the  faculty  of  talking  when 
he  has  nothing  to  say.  It  is  a  faculty  which,  unlike  the 
quality  of  unstrained  mercy,  curses  "  him  that  gives  as  well 
as  him  that  receives."  Still,  it  remains  true,  after  all  has 
been  said,  that  the  advocate  who  is  going  to  be  heard  "  when 
anvils  ring  and  hammers  beat,"  who  is  to  be  the  champion 
of  a  great  cause  on  a  great  occasion,  must  be  furnished  with 


180  n  r.Lic  SPEAK  r\(;. 

something  besides  legal  knowledge.  He  wants  language. 
Language  is  to  the  speaker  what  color  is  t<>  the  painter  —  the 
vehicle.  He  wants  the  capacity  of  reasoning,  of  stating,  of 
illustrating,  of  carrying  the  minds  of  his  hearers  with  him. 
Now,  that  power  may  come  by  nature  to  some  men,  as  Judge 
Dogberry  thought  reading  and  writing  did ;  but  I  never  met 
such  an  instance.  When  you  find  a  man  possessing  that 
gift,  a  man  who  is  always  going  to  be  attended  to  when  he 
speaks,  and  who  is  likely  to  be  successful,  on  the  right  side 
at  least,  when  he  addresses  an  intelligent  tribunal,  you  will 
find  that  he  has  somewhere  and  somehow  filled  and  stored 
his  mind  with  the  culture  of  fine  letters  and  literature.  Rea- 
son, logic,  and  learning  hew  the  way,  but  advocacy  illumi- 
nates. It  is  a  calcium  light  that  points  the  way  that  reason 
hews  out  through  the  rocks,  so  that  the  wayfaring  man 
may  see  it. 


GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS. 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Delivered  upon  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  Gettysburg  Cemetery. 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 
Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether 
that  nation  —  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated  — 
can  long  endure. 

We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We  are 
met  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  it  as  the  final  resting-place  of 
those  who  have  given  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live. 


SELECTIONS   FQR   PRACTICE.  181 

It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 
But  in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  conse- 
crate, we  cannot  hallow,  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  liv- 
ing and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far 
above  our  power  to  add  or  to  detract.  The  world  will  very 
little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we  say  here ;  but  it  can 
never  forget  what  they  did  here. 

It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here,  to  the 
unfinished  work  that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly  carried  on. 
It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  re- 
maining before  us;  that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take 
increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they  here  gave 
the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we  here  highly 
resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ;  that  the 
nation  shall,  under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and 
that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

HENRY   WATTER8ON. 

Extract  from  his  oration  on  Lincoln,  first  delivered  at  the  Auditorium, 
Chicago,  February  12,  1895. 

From  Ciesar  to  Bismarck  and  Gladstone  the  world  has 
had  its  statesmen  and  its  soldiers  —  men  who  rose  to  emi- 
nence step  by  step,  through  a  series  of  geometric  progression, 
as  it  were,  each  advancement  following  in  regular  order  one 
after  the  other,  the  whole  obedient  to  well-established  and 
well-understood  laws  of  cause  and  effect.  They  were  not 
vvhat  we  call  "  men  of  destiny."  They  were  "  men  of  the 


182  1TKL1C   SPEM<1\',. 

time/'  They  were  men  whose  careers  had  a  beginning,  a 
middle,  and  an  end,  rounding  off  lives  with  histories,  full, 
it  may  be,  of  interesting  and  exciting  event,  but  compre- 
hensive and  comprehensible,  —  simple,  clear,  complete. 

The  inspired  ones  are  fewer.  Whence  their  emanation, 
where  and  how  they  got  their  power,  by  what  rule  they 
lived,  moved,  and  had  their  being,  we  know  not.  There  is 
no  explication  to  their  lives.  They  rose  from  shadow,  and 
they  went  in  mist.  We  see  them,  feel  them,  but  we  know 
them  not.  They  came,  God's  word  upon  their  lips;  they 
did  their  office,  God's  mantle  about  them ;  and  they  van- 
ished, God's  holy  light  between  the  world  and  them,  leaving 
behind  a  memory,  half  mortal  and  half  myth.  From  first 
to  last  they  were  the  creations  of  some  special  Providence, 
baffling  the  wit  of  man  to  fathom,  defeating  the  machina- 
tions of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  until  their  work 
was  done,  then  passing  from  the  scene  as  mysteriously  as 
they  had  come  upon  it. 

Tried  by  this  standard,  where  shall  we  find  an  example 
so  impressive  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  career  might  be 
chanted  by  a  Greek  chorus  as  at  once  the  prelude  and  the 
epilogue  of  the  most  imperial  theme  of  modern  tim< 

Born  as  lowly  as  the  Son  of  God,  in  a  hovel;  reared  in 
penury,  squalor,  with  no  gleam  of  lighter  fair  surrounding; 
without  graces,  actual  or  acquired ;  without  name  or  fame  or 
official  training ;  it  was  reserved  for  this  strange  being,  late 
in  life,  to  be  snatched  from  obscurity,  raised  to  supreme 
command  at  a  supreme  moment,  and  intrusted  with  the 
destiny  of  a  nation. 

The  great  leaders  of  his  party,  the  most  experienced  and 
accomplished  public  men  of  the  day,  were  made  to  stand 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  183 

aside ;  were  sent  to  the  rear,  whilst  this  fantastic  figure  was 
led  by  unseen  hands  to  the  front  and  given  the  reins  of 
power.  It  is  immaterial  whether  we  were  for  him  or  against 
him,  —  wholly  immaterial.  That,  during  four  years,  carrying 
with  them  such  a  weight  of  responsibility  as  the  world  never 
witnessed  before,  he  filled  the  vast  space  allotted  him  in  the 
eyes  and  actions  of  mankind,  is  to  say  that  he  was  inspired 
of  God,  for.  nowhere  else  could  he  have  acquired  the  wisdom 
and  the  virtue. 

Where  did  Shakspeare  get  his  genius  ?  Where  did  Mozart 
get  his  music  ?  Whose  hand  smote  the  lyre  of  the  Scottish 
ploughman,  and  stayed  the  life  of  the  German  priest? 
God,  and  God  alone ;  and  as  surely  as  these  were  raised  up 
by  God,  inspired  by  God,  was  Abraham  Lincoln;  and  a 
thousand  years  hence,  no  drama,  no  tragedy,  no  epic  poem 
will  be  filled  with  greater  wonder,  or  be  followed  by  man- 
kind with  deeper  feeling,  than  that  which  tells  the  story  of 
his  life  and  death. 


ROBERT  E.  LEE. 

JOHN  W.    DANIEL. 

Extract  from  an  oration  delivered  at  the  unveiling  of  the  recumbent 
figure  of  General  Lee,  at  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
Lexington,  Virginia,  June  28,  1883. 

In  personal  appearance  General  Lee  was  a  man  whom 
once  to  see  was  ever  to  remember.  His  figure  was  tall, 
erect,  well  proportioned,  lithe,  and  graceful.  A  fine  head, 
with  broad,  uplifted  brows,  and  features  boldly  yet  deli- 
cately chiselled,  bore  the  aspect  of  one  born  to  con  <  and. 


184  PTJILIC  SPEAKING. 

His  whole  countenance  bespoke  alike  a  powerful  niind  and 
an  indomitable  will,  yet  beamed  with  charity,  benevolence, 
and  gentleness.  In  his  manners  quiet  reserve,  unaffected 
courtesy,  and  native  dignity  made  manifest  the  character  of 
one  who  can  only  be  described  by  the  name  of  gentleman. 

Mounted  in  the  field  and  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  a 
glimpse  of  Lee  was  an  inspiration.  His  figure  was  as  dis- 
tinctive as  that  of  Napoleon.  The  black  slouoh  hat,  the 
cavalry  boots,  the  dark  cape,  the  plain  gray  coat  without  an 
ornament  but  the  three  stars  on  the  collar,  the  calm,  victo- 
rious face,  the  splendid,  manly  figure  on  the  gray  war-horse, 
—  he  looked  every  inch  the  true  knight — the  grand,  invin- 
cible champion  of  a  great  principle. 

The  men  who  wrested  victory  from  his  little  band  stood 
wonder-stricken  and  abashed  when  they  saw  how  few  were 
those  who  dared  oppose  them,  and  generous  admiration 
burst  into  spontaneous  tribute  to  the  splendid  leader  who 
bore  defeat  with  the  quiet  resignation  of  a  hero.  The  men 
who  fought  under  him  never  revered  or  loved  him  more  than 
on  the  day  he  sheathed  his  sword.  Had  he  but  said  the 
word,  they  would  have  died  for  honor.  It  was  because  he 
said  the  word  that  they  resolved  to  live  for  duty. 

Plato  congratulated  himself,  first,  that  he  was  born  a 
man ;  second,  that  he  had  the  happiness  of  being  a  Greek ; 
and  third,  that  he  was  a  contemporary  of  Sophocles.  And 
in  this  audience  to-day,  and  here  and  there  the  wide  world 
over,  is  many  an  one  who  wore  the  gray,  who  rejoices  that 
he  was  born  a  man  to  do  a  man's  part  for  his  suffering 
country ;  that  he  had  the  glory  of  being  a  Confederate ;  and 
who  feels  a  justly  proud  and  glowing  consciousness  in  his 
when  he  says  unto  himself,  "I  was  a  follower  of 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  185 

Robert  E.  Lee.  I  was  a  soldier  in  the  army  of  Northern 
Virginia." 

As  president  of  Washington  and  Lee  University,  General 
Lee  exhibited  qualities  not  less  worthy  and  heroic  than 
those  displayed  on  the  broad  and  open  theatre  of  conflict 
when  the  eyes  of  nations  watched  his  every  action.  In  the 
quiet  walks  of  academic  life,  far  removed  from  "war  or 
battle's  sound,"  came  into  view  the  towering  grandeur,  the 
massive  splendor,  and  the  loving  kindness  of  his  character. 
There  he  revealed  in  manifold  gracious  hospitalities,  tender 
charities,  and  patient,  worthy  counsels,  how  deep  and  pure 
and  inexhaustible  were  the  fountains  of  his  virtues.  And 
loving  hearts  delight  to  recall,  as  loving  lips  will  ever  de- 
light to  tell,  the  thousand  little  things  he  did  which  sent 
forth  lines  of  light  to  irradiate  the  gloom  of  the  conquered 
land  and  to  lift  up  the  hopes  and  cheer  the  works  of  his 
people. 

Come  we  then  to-day  in  loyal  love  to  sanctify  our  memo- 
ries, to  purify  our  hopes,  to  make  strong  all  good  intent  by 
communion  with  the  spirit  of  him  who,  being  dead,  yet 
speaketh.  Let  us  crown  his  tomb  with  the  oak,  the  emblem 
of  his  strength,  and  with  the  laurel,  the  emblem  of  his  glory. 
And  as  we  seem  to  gaze  once  more  on  him  we  loved  and 
hailed  as  Chief,  the  tranquil  face  is  clothed  with  heaven's 
light,  and  the  mute  lips  seem  eloquent  with  the  message 
that  in  life  he  spoke,  "There  is  a  true  glory  and  a  true 
honor ;  the  glory  of  duty  done,  the  honor  of  the  integrity  of 
principle." 


186  PUBLIC   SPEAKING, 

STONEWALL  JACKSON. 

MOSES  D.   HOOK. 

The  day  after  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  and  before  the 
history  of  that  victory  had  reached  Lexington  in  authentic 
form,  a  crowd  had  gathered  around  the  post-office,  awaiting 
with  intensest  interest  the  opening  of  the  mail.  In  its 
distribution  the  first  letter  was  handed  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
White.  Recognizing  at  a  glance  the  well-kno\vn  super- 
scription, the  doctor  exclaimed  to  those  around  him,  "Now 
we  shall  know  all  the  facts." 

The  letter  was  from  General  Jackson;  but  instead  of  a 
war  bulletin,  it  was  a  simple  note,  inclosing  a  check  for  a 
colored  Sunday-school,  with  an  apology  for  his  delay  in  not 
sending  it  before.  Not  a  word  about  the  conflict  which  had 
electrified  a  nation !  Not  an  allusion  to  the  splendid  part 
he  had  taken  in  it;  not  a  reference  to  himself,  beyond  the 
fact  that  it  had  been  to  him  a  fatiguing  day's  service !  And 
yet  that  was  the  day  ever  memorable  in  his  history,  when 
he  received  the  name  of  "  Stonewall "  Jackson. 

When  his  brigade  of  twenty-six  hundred  men  had  for 
hours  withstood  the  iron  tempest  which  broke  upon  it; 
when  the  Confederate  right  had  been  overwhelmed  in  the 
rush  of  resistless  numbers,  General  Bee  rode  up  to  Jackson, 
and.  with  despairing  bitterness,  exclaimed,  "General,  they 
are  beating  us  back !  "  "  Then,"  said  Jackson,  calm  and 
curt,  "we  will  give  them  the  bayonet."  Bee  seemed  to 
catch  the  inspiration  of  his  determined  will ;  and  galloping 
back  to  the  broken  fragments  of  his  overtaxed  command, 
exclaimed,  "There  is  Jackson,  standing  like  a  stone  wall. 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  1ST 

Rally  behind  him,  Virginians  !  "  From  that  time  Jackson's 
was  known  as  the  Stonewall  Brigade  —  a  name  henceforth 
immortal,  for  the  christening  was  baptized  in  the  blood  of 
its  author;  and  that  wall  of  brave  -  hearts  was,  on  every 
battle-field,  a  steadfast  bulwark  of  their  country. 

In  the  state  where  all  that  is  mortal  of  this  great  hero 
sleeps,  there  is  a  natural  bridge  of  rock,  whose  massive 
arch,  fashioned  in  grandeur  by  the  hand  of  God,  springs 
lightly  toward  the  sky,  spanning  a  chasm  into  whose  awful 
depths  the  beholder  looks  down  bewildered  and  awe-struck. 
But  its  grandeur  is  not  diminished  because  tender  vines 
clamber  over  its  gigantic  piers  and  sweet-scented  flowers 
nestle  in  its  crevices.  Nor  is  the  granite  strength  of 
Jackson's  character  weakened  because  in  every  throb  of 
his  heart  there  was  a  pulsation  ineffably  and  exquisitely 
tender.  The  hum  of  bees,  the  fragrance  of  clover  fields, 
the  tender  streaks  of  dawn,  the  dewy  brightness  of  early 
spring,  the  mellow  glories  of  matured  autumn,  all  by  turns 
charmed  and  tranquillized  him.  The  eye  that  flashed  amid 
the  smoke  of  battle  grew  soft  in  contemplating  the  beauty 
of  a  flower.  The  ear  that  thrilled  with  the  thunder  of  the 
cannonade  drank  in  with  innocent  delight  the  song  of  birds 
and  the  prattle  of  children's  voices.  The  voice  whose  sharp 
and  ringing  tones  had  so  often  uttered  the  command,  "  Give 
them  the  bayonet,"  called  even  from  foreign  tongues  terms 
of  endearment  for  those  he  loved ;  and  the  man  who  filled 
two  hemispheres  with  his  fame  was  never  so  happy  as  when 
he  was  telling  the  colored  children  of  his  Sabbath-school 
the  story  of  the  Cross. 

Standing  before  this  statue,  as  in  the  living  presence  of 
the  man  it  represents;  cordially  indorsing,  as  we  do,  the 


188  PrBLK'   SPEAKING. 


principles  of  the  political  school  in  which  he  was  trained, 
and  in  defence  of  which  he  died,  and  unable  yet  to  think  of 
our  dead  Confederacy  without  memories  unutterably  tender, 
I  speak  not  for  myself,  but  for  the  South,  when  I  say  it  is 
our  interest,  our  duty,  and  determination  to  maintain  the 
Union,  and  to  make  every  possible  contribution  to  its  pros- 
perity and  glory,  if  all  the  states  which  compose  it  will 
unite  in  making  it  such  a  Union  as  our  fathers  framed,  and 
enthroning  above  it  the  Constitution  in  its  old  supremacy. 
If  ever  these  states  are  welded  together  in  one  great,  frater- 
nal, and  enduring  Union,  with  one  heart  pulsating  through 
the  entire  frame,  as  the  tides  throb  through  the  bosom  of 
the  sea,  it  will  be  when  they  all  stand  on  the  same  level, 
with  such  a  jealous  regard  for  one  another's  rights,  that 
when  the  interests  or  honor  of  one  are  assailed,  all  the  rest, 
feeling  the  wound,  will  kindle  with  just  resentment  at  the 
outrage.  But  if  that  cannot  be,  then  I  trust  the  day  will 
lit  \  »T  dawn  when  the  Southern  people  will  add  degradation 
to  defeat,  and  hypocrisy  to  subjugation,  by  professing  a 
love  for  the  Union  which  denies  to  one  of  their  states  a 
single  right  accorded  to  Massachusetts  or  New  York.  To 
such  a  Union  we  will  never  be  heartily  loyal  while  that 
bronze  hand  grasps  the  sword,  while  yonder  river  chants 
the  requiem  of  the  sixteen  thousand  Confederate  dead  who 
sleep  on  the  hills  of 


THE  SOLDIER'S  LAST  SALUTE. 

HORACE    PORTER. 

On  the  morning  of  Decoration  Day,  1885,  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  the  veterans  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York 


^ELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  189 

City  who  had  served  under  General  Grant,  rose  earlier  than 
was  their  wont,  spent  more  time  than  usual  in  unfurling 
their  old  battle-flags,  and  in  burnishing  the  medals  of  honor 
which  decorated  their  breasts  ;  for  they  had  resolved  on  that 
day  to  march  by  the  house  of  their  dying  commander,  and 
give  him  one  last  marching  salute. 

Outside  that  house  the  street  was  filled  with  marching 
men  and  martial  music.  Inside  that  house  the  old  chief 
lay  on  a  bed  of  anguish,  the  pallor  of  death  already  begin- 
ning to  overspread  his  illustrious  features.  /  The  hand  which 
had  seized  the  surrendered  swords  of  countless  thousands 
was  scarcely  able  to  return  the  pressure  of  a  friendly  grasp  y 
the  voice  which  had  cheered  on  to  triumphant  victory  the 
legions  of  American  manhood  was  no  longer  able  to  call  for 
the  cooling  draught  which  slaked  the  thirst  of  a  fevered 
tongue/  And  prostrate  upon  that  bed  of  suffering  lay  the 
form  which  in  the  new  world  had  ridden  at  the  head  of  con- 
quering columns;  in  the  old  world  had_-marched  through 
the  palaces  of  crowned  heads  with  the  descendants  of  a  line 
of  kings  rising  and  standing  uncovered  in  his  presence. 

His  ear  caught  the  sound  of  the  movement  of  marching 
men.  The  bands  were  playing  the  grand  strains  which  had 
mingled  with  the  echo  of  his  guns  at  Vicksburg,  playing  the 
same  quicksteps  to  which  his  men  had  sped  in  hot  haste  in 
pursuit  of  Lee  through  Virginia ;  and  then  came  the  steady, 
measured,  swinging  step  of  war-trained  men,  which  seemed 
to  shake  the  earth./  He  understood  it  all  then.  It  was  the 
tread  of  his  old  veterans.  He  seized  his  crutch  and  dragged 
himself  painfully  and  slowly  to  the  window.  As  he  saw 
those  old  battle-nags  dipping  to  him  in  salute,  he  once  more 
drew  himself  into  the  position  of  a  soldier;  and  as  he  gazed 


190  PUBLIC  SPEAKI\<:. 

upon  those  banners,  bullet-ridden  and  battle-stained,  many 
of  them  but  a  remnant  of  their  former  selves,  there  kindled 
in  his  eyes  the  flames  which  had  lighted  them  at  Chatta-^ 
uooga^in  the  Wilderuess/aniidst  the  glories  of  Appomattoxj 
and  as  those  veterans  bared  their  heads  to  that  May  morn- 
ing's breeze,  and  looked  for  the  last  time  with  upturned  eyes 
on  their  old  chief,  cheeks  which  had  been  bronzed  by  south- 
ern suns  and  begrimed  with  powder  were  now  bathed  in  tears 
of  manly  grief.  And  thenlthey  saw  the  rising  hand  which 
had  so  often  pointed  out  to  them  the  path  of  victory.  He 
raised  it  slowly  and-  feebly  to  his  head  in  acknowledgment 
of  their  salutations.  The  last  of  the  column  passed.  The 
hand  fell  heavily  by  his  side.  It  was  the  soldier's  last 
salute. 


THE  DEATH   OF  GARFIELD. 

.JAMES   O.    BLAINK. 

Extract  from  a  speech  delivered  in  Congress,  February  S6,  1889. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  2,  1881,  President 
Garfield  was  a  contented  and  happy  man  —  not  in  an  ordi- 
nary degree,  but  joyfully,  almost  boyishly  happy.  And 
surely,  if  happiness  can  ever  come  from  the  honors  or  tri- 
umphs of  this  world,  on  that  quiet  July  morning  Garfield 
may  well  have  been  a  happy  man.  No  foreboding  of  evil 
haunted  him;  no  premonition  of  danger  clouded  his  sky. 
One  moment  he  stood  erect,  strong,  confident  in  the  years 
stretching  peacefully  out  before  him ;  the  next  he  lay 
wounded,  bleeding,  helpless,  doomed  to  weary  weeks  of  tor- 
ture, to  silence,  and  the  grave. 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  191 

Great  in  life,  he  was  surpassingly  great  in  death.  For  no 
cause,  in  the  very  frenzy  of  wantonness  and  wickedness,  by 
the  red  hand  of  murder,  he  was  thrust  from  the  full  tide  oi 
this  world's  interests,  from  its  hopes,  its  aspirations,  its 
victories,  into  the  visible  presence  of  death  —  and  he  did 
not  quail.  Not  alone  for  'the  one  short  moment  in  which, 
stunned  and  dazed,  he  could  give  up  life,  hardly  aware  of 
its  relinquishment,  but  through  days  of  deadly  languor, 
through  weeks  of  agony  that  was  not  less  agony  because 
silently  borne,  with  clear  sight  and  calm  courage,  he  looked 
into  his  open  grave. 

As  the  end  drew  near,  his  early  craving  for  the  sea  re- 
turned. The  stately  mansion  of  power  had  become  to  him 
the  wearisome  hospital  of  pain,  and  he  begged  to  be  taken 
from  its  prison  walls,  from  its  oppressive,  stifling  air,  from 
its  homelessness  and  its  hopelessness.  Gently,  silently,  the 
love  of  a  great  people  bore  the  pale  sufferer  to  the  longed- 
for  healing  of  the  sea,  to  live  or  to  die,  as  God  should  will, 
within  sight  of  its  heaving  billows,  within  sound  of  its 
manifold  voices.  With  wan,  fevered  face  tenderly  lifted  to 
the  cooling  breeze,  he  looked  out  wistfully  upon  the  ocean's 
changing  wonders :  on  its  far  sails,  whitening  in  the  morn- 
ing light ;  on  its  restless  waves,  rolling  shoreward  to  break 
and  die  beneath  the  noonday  sun;  011  the  red  clouds  of 
evening,  arching  low  to  the  horizon ;  on  the  serene  and 
shining  pathway  of  the  stars. 

Let  us  think  that  his  dying  eyes  read  a  mystic  meaning 
which  only  the  rapt  and  parting  soul  may  know.  Let  us 
believe  that  in  the  silence  of  the  receding  world  he  heard 
the  great  waves  breaking  on  a  farther  shore,  and  felt  already 
upon  his  wasted  brow  the  breath  of  the  eternal  morning. 


192  PUBLIC  SPEAKL\r;. 

WILLIAM  McKIXLEY. 

JOHN   HAY. 

Eftrartfroma  eulogy  delivered  at  the  official  exercises  commemorative 
of  President  McKinley. 

For  the  third  time  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  are 
assembled  to  commemorate  the  life  and  death  of  a  Presi- 
dent slain  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  The  attention  of 
the  future  historian  will  be  attracted  to  the  features  which 
reappear  with  startling  sameness  in  all  three  of  these  awful 
crimes:  the  uselessness,  the  utter  lack  of  consequence  of 
the  act;  the  obscurity,  the  insignificance  of  the  criminal; 
the  blamelessness  —  so  far  as  in  our  sphere  of  existence  the 
best  of  men  may  be  held  blameless  —  of  the  victim.  Not 
one  of  our  murdered  presidents  had  an  enemy  in  the  world; 
they  were  all  of  such  preeminent  purity  of  life  that  no  pre- 
text could  be  given  for  the  attack  of  passional  crime ;  they 
were  all  men  of  democratic  instincts  who  could  never  have 
offended  the  most  jealous  advocates  of  equality ;  they  were 
of  kindly  and  generous  nature,  to  whom  wrong  or  injustice 
was  impossible ;  of  moderate  fortune,  whose  slender  means 
nobody  could  envy.  They  were  men  of  austere  virtue,  of 
tender  heart,  of  eminent  abilities,  which  they  had  devoted 
with  single  minds  to  the  good  of  the  Republic.  If  ever  men 
walked  before  God  and  man  without  blame,  it  was  these 
three  rulers  of  our  people.  The  only  temptation  to  attack 
their  lives  offered  was  their  gentle  radiance  —  to  eyes  hating 
the  light,  that  was  offence  enough. 

In  a  mood  of  high  hope,  of  generous  expectation,  President 
McKinley  went  to  Buffalo,  and  there,  on  the  threshold  of 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  193 

eternity,  he  delivered  that  memorable  speech,  worthy  for  its 
loftiness  of  tone,  its  blameless  morality,  its  breadth  of  view, 
to  be  regarded  as  his  testament  to  the  nation.  Through  all 
his  pride  of  country  and  his  joy  of  its  success  runs  the  note  of 
solemn  warning,  as  in  Kipling's  noble  hymn,  "Lest  we  for- 
get." Nothing  I  might  say  could  give  such  a  picture  of  the 
President's  mind  and  character.  His  years  of  apprentice- 
ship had  been  served.  He  stood  that  day  past  master  of  the 
art  of  statesmanship.  He  had  nothing  more  to  ask  of  the 
people.  He  owed  them  nothing  but  truth  and  faithful  ser- 
vice. His  mind  and  heart  were  purged  of  the  temptations 
which  beset  all  men  engaged  in  the  struggle  to  survive.  In 
view  of  the  revelation  of  his  nature  vouchsafed  to  us  that 
day,  and  the  fate  which  impended  over  him,  we  can  only  say 
in  deep  affection  and  solemn  awe,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  Even  for  that  vision  he  was 
not  unworthy. 

He  had  not  long  to  wait.  The  next  day  sped  the  bolt  of 
doom,  and  for  a  week  after  —  in  an  agony  of  dread  broken 
by  illusive  glimpses  of  hope  that  our  prayers  might  be 
answered  —  the  nation  waited  for  the  end.  Nothing  in  the 
glorious  life  that  we  saw  gradually  waning  was  more  admi- 
rable and  exemplary  than  its  close.  The  gentle  humanity 
of  his  words  when  he  saw  his  assailant  in  danger  of  surnmary 
vengeance,  "  Don't  let  them  hurt  him  " ;  his  chivalrous  care 
that  the  news  should  be  broken  gently  to  his  wife ;  the  fine 
courtesy  with  which  he  apologized  for  the  damage  which 
his  death  would  bring  to  the  great  exhibition;  and  the 
heroic  resignation  of  his  final  words,  "It  is  God's  way; 
His  will,  not  ours,  be  done,"  were  all  the  instinctive  ex- 
pressions of  a  nature  so  lofty  and  so  pure  that  pride  in  its 


194  PUBLIC  SPEAKI\<, 

nobility  at  once  softened  and  enhanced  the  nation's  sense 
of  loss. 

The  obvious  elements  which  enter  into  the  fame  of  a  pub- 
lic man  are  few  and  by  no  means  recondite.  The  man  who 
fills  a  great  station  in  a  period  of  change,  who  leads  his 
country  successfully  through  a  time  of  crisis ;  who,  by  his 
power  of  persuading  and  controlling  others,  has  been  able 
to  command  the  best  thought  of  his  age,  so  as  to  leave  his 
country  in  a  moral  or  material  condition  in  advance  of  where 
he  found  it  —  such  a  man's  position  in  history  is  secure. 
If,  in  addition  to  this,  his  written  or  spoken  words  possess 
the  subtle  quality  which  carry  them  far  and  lodge  them  in 
men's  hearts;  and,  more  than  all,  if  his  utterances  and 
actions,  while  informed  with  a  lofty  morality,  are  yet  tinged 
with  the  glow  of  human  sympathy,  the  fame  of  such  a  man 
will  shine  like  a  beacon  through  the  mists  of  ages  —  an 
object  of  reverence,  of  imitation,  and  of  love. 

It  should  be  to  us  an  occasion  of  solemn  pride  that  in  the 
three  great  crises  of  our  history  such  a  man  was  not  denied 
us.  The  moral  value  to  a  nation  of  a  renown  such  as  Wash- 
ington's and  Lincoln's  and  McKinley's  is  beyond  all  compu- 
tation. No  loftier  ideal  can  be  held  up  to  the  emulation  of 
ingenuous  youth.  With  such  examples  we  cannot  be  wholly 
ignoble.  Grateful  as  we  may  be  for  what  they  did,  let  us 
l>e  still  more  grateful  for  what  they  were.  While  our  daily 
being,  our  public  policies,  still  feel  the  influence  of  their 
work,  let  us  pray  that  in  our  spirits  their  lives  may  be  volu- 
ble, calling  us  upward  and  onward. 

There  is  not  one  of  us  but  feels  prouder  of  his  native  land 
because  the  august  figure  of  Washington  presided  over  its 
beginnings;  no  one  but  vows  it  a  tenderer  love  because 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  195 

Lincoln  poured  out  his  blood  for  it ;  no  one  but  must  feel 
his  devotion  for  his  country  renewed  and  kindled  when  he 
remembers  how  McKiuley  loved,  revered,  and  served  it, 
showed  in  his  life  how  a  citizen  should  live,  and  in  his  last 
hour  taught  us  how  a  gentleman  could  die. 


THE  NEW   SOUTH. 

HENRY   W.   GRADY. 

Extract  from  the  speech  that  first  brought  him  national  fame  as  an 
orator.  Delivered  at  a  dinner  of  the  New  England  Society,  New 
York  City,  December  26,  1886. 

"  There  was  a  South  of  slavery  and  secession  —  that  South 
is  dead.  There  is  a  South  of  union  and  freedom  —  that 
South,  thank  God,  is  living,  breaching,  growing  every  hour." 
These  words,  delivered  from  the  immortal  lips  of  Benjamin 
H.  Hill,  at  Tammany  Hall,  in  1866,  true  then,  and  truer 
now,  I  shall  make  my  text  to-night. 

Dr.  Talmage  has  drawn  for  you,  with  a  master  hand,  the 
picture  of  your  returning  armies.  He  has  told  you  how,  in 
the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war,  they  came  back  to  you, 
marching  with  proud  and  victorious  tread,  reading  their 
glory  in  a  nation's  eyes !  Will  you  bear  with  me  while  I 
tell  you  of  another  army  that  sought  its  home  at  the 
close  of  the  late  war?  An  army  that  marched  home  in 
defeat  and  not  in  victory  —  in  pathos  and  not  in  splendor, 
but  in  glory  that  equalled  yours,  and  to  hearts  as  loving  as 
ever  welcomed  heroes  home.  Let  me  picture  to  you  the  foot- 
sore Confederate  soldier,  as,  buttoning  up  in  his  faded  gray 
jacket  the  parole  which  was  to  bear  testimony  to  his  children 


196  PUBLIC  HPEAKIM;. 

of  his  fidelity  and  faith,  he  turned  his  face  southward  from 
Appomattox  in  April,  1865  !  Think  of  him  as  ragged,  half- 
starved,  heavy-hearted,  enfeebled  by  want  and  wounds; 
having  fought  to  exhaustion,  he  surrenders  his  gun,  wrings 
the  hand  of  his  comrade  in  silence,  and,  lifting  his  tear- 
stained  and  pallid  face  for  the  last  time  to  the  graves  that 
dot  the  old  Virginia  hills,  pulls  his  gray  cap  over  his  brow, 
and  begins  the  slow  and  painful  journey.  What  does  he 
find?  —  let  me  ask  you  who  went  to  your  homes  eager  to 
find,  in  the  welcome  you  had  justly  earned,  full  payment  for 
four  years'  sacrifice  —  what  does  he  find  when,  having  fol- 
lowed the  battle-stained  cross  against  overwhelming  odds, 
dreading  death  not  half  so  much  as  surrender,  he  reaches 
the  home  he  left  so  prosperous  and  beautiful  ?  He  finds  his 
house  in  ruins,  his  farm  devastated,  his  slaves  free,  his  stock 
killed,  his  barn  empty,  his  trade  destroyed,  his  money  worth- 
less; his  social  system,  feudal  in  its  magnificence,  swept 
away;  his  people  without  law  or  legal  status;  his  comrades 
slain,  and  the  burdens  of  others  heavy  on  his  shoulders. 
Crushed  by  defeat,  his  very  traditions  gone ;  without  money, 
credit,  employment,  material  training;  and  besides  all  this, 
confronted  with  the  gravest  problem  that  ever  met  human 
intelligence  —  the  establishing  of  a  status  for  the  vast  body 
of  his  liberated  slaves. 

What  does  he  do  —  this  hero  in  gray  with  a  heart  of  gold  ? 
Does  he  sit  down  in  sullenness  and  despair?  Not  for  a 
day.  Surely  God,  who  had  stripped  him  of  his  prosperity, 
inspired  him  in  his  adversity.  As  ruin  was  never  before  so 
overwhelming,  never  was  restoration  swifter.  The  soldier 
stepped  from  the  trenches  into  the  furrow ;  horses  that  had 
charged  Federal  guns  marched  before  the  plough ;  and  fields 


SELECTIONS   FOR  PRACTICE.  197 

that  ran  red  with  human  blood  in  April  were  green  with 
harvest  in  June. 

But  what  is  the  sura  of  our  work  ?  We  have  found  that 
in  the  general  summary  the  free  negro  counts  for  more  than 
he  did  as  a  slave.  We  have  planted  the  schoolhouse  on 
the  hilltop  and  made  it  free  to  white  and  black.  We  have 
sowed  towns  and  cities  in  the  place  of  theories  and  put 
business  above  politics. 

The  new  South  is  enamoured  of  her  new  work.  Her  soul 
is  stirred  with  the  breath  of  a  new  life.  The  light  of  a 
grander  day  is  falling  fair  on  her  face.  She  is  thrilling  with 
the  consciousness  of  a  growing  power  and  prosperity.  As 
she  stands  upright,  full  statured,  and  equal  among  the  people 
of  the  earth,  breathing  the  keen  air  and  looking  out  upon 
the  expanding  horizon,  she  understands  that  her  emancipa- 
tion came  because,  in  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  God,  her 
honest  purpose  was  crossed  and  her  brave  armies  beaten. 

This  is  said  in  no  spirit  of  time-serving  or  apology.  The 
South  has  nothing  for  which  to  apologize.  The  South  has 
nothing  to  take  back.  In  my  native  town  of  Athens  is  a 
monument  that  crowns  its  central  hills  —  a  plain  white 
shaft.  Deep  cut  into  its  shining  side  is  a  name  dear  to  me 
above  the  names  of  men,  that  of  a  brave  and  simple  man 
who  died  in  a  brave  and  simple  faith.  Not  for  all  the 
glories  of  New  England  —  from  Plymouth  Rock  all  the  way 
—  would  I  exchange  the  heritage  he  left  me  in  his  soldier's 
death.  To  the  feet  of  that  shaft  I  shall  send  my  children's 
children  to  reverence  him  who  ennobled  their  name  with 
his  heroic  blood.  But,  speaking  from  the  shadow  of  that 
memory,  which  I  honor  as  I  do  nothing  else  on  earth,  I  say 
that  the  cause  in  which  he  suffered  and  for  which  he  gave 


198  rrnLic  SPEAK  i.\<r. 

his  life  was  adjudged  by  higher  and  fuller  wisdom  than  his 
or  mine,  and  I  am  glad  that  the  omniscient  God  held  the 
balance  of  battle  in  his  almighty  hand,  and  that  human 
slavery  was  swept  forever  from  American  soil  —  the  Ameri- 
can Union  saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  war. 

This  message  comes  to  you  from  hallowed  ground, — 
doubly  hallowed  by  the  fallen  heroes  who  wore  the  gray  and 
by  those  who  wore  the  blue.  Now  what  answer  has  New 
England  to  this  message  ?  Will  she  permit  the  prejudice 
of  war  to  remain  in  the  hearts  of  the  conquerors  when  it  has 
died  in  the  hearts  of  the  conquered?  Will  she  transmit 
this  prejudice  to  the  next  generation,  that  in  their  hearts, 
which  never  felt  the  generous  ardor  of  conflict,  it  may  per- 
petuate itself  ?  Will  she  make  the  last  words  of  your  great 
chieftain  —  "  Let  us  have  peace  "  —  a  delusion  or  an  inspira- 
tion? Will  she  withhold,  save  in  strained  courtesy,  the 
hand  which,  straight  from  his  soldier's  heart,  Grant  offered 
to  Lee  at  Appomattox?  If  she  does,  the  South,  never 
abject  in  asking  for  comradeship,  must  accept  with  dignity 
its  refusal;  but  if  she  does  not  —  if  she  accepts  with  frank- 
ness and  sincerity  this  message  of  good-will  and  friendship, 
then  will  the  prophecy  of  Webster,  delivered  in  this  very 
Society  forty  years  ago,  amid  tremendous  applause,  be  veri- 
fied in  its  fullest  and  final  sense,  when  he  said,  "  Standing 
hand  to  hand  and  clasping  hands,  we  should  remain  united 
as  we  have  for  sixty  years,  citizens  of  the  same  country, 
members  of  the  same  government,  united  all,  united  now, 
and  united  forever." 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  199 

THE  MINUTE  MAN   OF  THE   REVOLUTION. 

GEORGE    WILLIAM    CURTIS. 

Extract  from  an  oration  delivered  at  the  centennial  celebration  of  Con- 
cord Fight,  Concord,  Massachusetts,  April  10,  1876.  ^Orations 
and  Addresses,"  copyright,  1894,  by  Harper  and  Brothers. 

The  Minute  Man  of  the  Revolution !  And  who  was  he  ? 
He  was  the  old,  the  middle-aged,  and  the  young.  He  was 
the  husband  and  the  father,  who  left  his  plough  in  the  fur- 
row and  his  hammer  on  the  bench,  and  marched  to  die  or 
be  free.  He  was  the  son  and  lover,  the  plain,  shy  youth  of 
the  singing  school  and  the  village  choir,  whose  heart  beat 
to  arms  for  his  country,  and  who  felt,  though  he  could  not 
say  with  the  old  English  cavalier :  — 

"  I  could  not  love  thee,  dear,  so  much, 
Loved  I  not  honor  more." 

He  was  the  man  who  was  willing  to  pour  out  his  life's 
blood  for  a  principle.  Intrenched  in  his  own  honesty, 
the  king's  gold  could  not  buy  him ;  enthroned  in  the  love 
of  his  fellow-citizens,  the  king's  writ  could  not  take  him ; 
and  when,  on  the  morning  of  Lexington,  the  king's  troops 
marched  to  seize  him,  his  sublime  faith  saw,  beyond  the 
clouds  of  the  moment,  the  rising  sun  of  the  America  we 
behold,  and,  careless  of  himself,  mindful  only  of  his  coun- 
try, he  exultingly  exclaimed,  "Oh,  what  a  glorious  morn- 
ing!" And  then  amid  the  flashing  hills,  the  ringing  woods, 
the  flaming  roads,  he  smote  with  terror  the  haughty  British 
column,  and  sent  it  shrinking,  bleeding,  wavering,  and  reel- 
ing through  the  streets  of  the  village,  panic-stricken  and 
broken. 


200  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

Him  we  gratefully  recall  to-day ;  him  we  commit  in  his 
immortal  youth  to  the  reverence  of  our  children.  And  here 
amid  these  peaceful  fields,  —  here  in  the  heart  of  Middlesex 
County,  of  Lexington  and  Concord  and  Bunker  Hill,  stand 
fast,  Son  of  Liberty,  as  the  minute-men  stood  at  the  old 
North  Bridge.  But  should  we  or  our  descendants,  false  to 
justice  or  humanity,  betray  in  any  way  their  cause,  spring 
into  life  as  a  hundred  years  ago,  take  one  more  step,  de- 
scend, and  lead  us,  as  God  led  you  in  saving  America,  to 
save  the  hopes  of  man. 

No  hostile  fleet  for  many  a  year  has  vexed  the  waters  of 
our  coast;  nor  is  any  army  but  our  own  ever  likely  to  tread 
our  soil.  Not  such  are  our  enemies  to-day.  They  do  not 
come,  proudly  stepping  to  the  drum  beat,  their  bayonets 
flashing  in  the  morning  sun.  But  wherever  party  spirit 
shall  strain  the  ancient  guarantees  of  freedom ;  or  bigotry 
and  ignorance  shall  lay  their  fatal  hands  on  education ;  or 
the  arrogance  of  caste  shall  strike  at  equal  rights ;  or  cor- 
ruption shall  poison  the  very  springs  of  national  life, — 
there,  Minute  Man  of  Liberty,  are  your  Lexington  Green 
and  Concord  Bridge.  And  as  you  love  your  country  and 
your  kind,  and  would  have  your  children  rise  up  and  call 
you  blessed,  spare  not  the  enemy.  Over  the  hills,  out  of  the 
earth,  down  from  the  clouds,  pour  in  resistless  might.  Fire 
from  every  rock  and  tree,  from  door  and  window,  from 
hearthstone  and  chamber.  Hang  upon  his  flank  from  morn 
to  sunset,  and  so,  through  a  land  blazing  with  indignation, 
hurl  the  hordes  of  ignorance  and  corruption  and  injustice 
back  —  back  in  utter  defeat  and  ruin. 


SELECTIONS   FOR  PRACTICE.  201 

HAPPINESS   AND   LIBERTY. 

ROBERT    G.    INGERSOLL. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  be  rich  in  order  to  be  happy.  The 
laugh  of  a  child  will  brighten  the  gloom  of  the  darkest  day. 
Strike  with  the  hand  of  fire,  O  weird  musician,  upon  the 
hurpstring  with  Apollo's  golden  hair.  Fill  the  vast  cathe- 
clnil  aisles  with  symphonies  sweet  and  dim.  Blow,  bugles, 
blow  until  your  silvery  notes  do  touch  and  kiss  the  moonlit 
waves  and  charm  the  lovers  wandering  'neath  the  vine-clad 
hills;  but  know  that  your  sweetest  strains  are  but  discords 
all  compared  with  childhood's  happy  laugh.  Oh,  rippling 
river  of  laughter,  thou  art  the  blessed  boundary  line  between 
man  and  beast,  and  each  wayward  wave  of  thine  doth  catch 
and  drown  some  fitful  fiend  of  care ! 

Do  not  tell  me  you  have  got  to  be  rich.  We  have  a  false 
standard  of  these  things  in  the  United  States.  We  think 
that  a  man  must  be  great,  that  he  must  be  famous,  that  he 
must  be  wealthy.  That  is  all  a  mistake.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  be  rich,  to  be  great,  to  be  famous,  to  be  powerful, 
in  order  to  be  happy.  The  happy  man  is  the  free  man. 
Happiness  is  the  legal  tender  of  the  soul.  Joy  is  wealth. 
Liberty  is  joj. 

A  little  while  ago  I  stood  by  the  grave  of  the  old 
Napoleon  —  a  magnificent  tomb  of  gilt  and  gold,  fit  almost 
for  a  dead  deity  —  and  gazed  upon  the  sarcophagus  of  black 
Egyptian  marble,  where  rest  at  last  the  ashes  of  that  rest- 
less man.  -I  leaned  over  the  balustrade  and  thought  about 
the  career  of  the  greatest  soldier  of  the  modern  world. 

I  saw  him  walking  upon  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  contem- 


-"-  ri'BLIC  SPAMA'/.V'/. 

plating  suicide.  I  saw  him  at  Toulon  —  I  saw  him  putting 
down  the  mob  in  the  streets  of  Paris  —  I  saw  him  at  the 
head  of  the  army  of  Italy  —  I  saw  him  crossing  the  bridge 
of  Lodi  with  the  tricolor  in  his  hand  —  I  saw  him  in  Egypt 
in  the  shadow  of  the  pyramids  —  I  saw  him  conquer  the 
Alps  and  mingle  the  eagles  of  France  with  the  eagles  of 
the  crags.  I  saw  him  at  Marengo  —  at  Ulm  and  Auster- 
litz.  I  saw  him  in  Russia,  where  the  infantry  of  the  snow 
and  the  cavalry  of  the  wild  blast  scattered  his  legions  like 
winter's  withered  leaves.  I  saw  him  at  Leipsic  in  defeat 
and  disaster  —  driven  by  a  million  bayonets  back  upon  Paris 
—  clutched  like  a  wild  beast  —  banished  to  Elba.  I  saw 
him  escape  and  retake  an  empire  by  the  force  of  his  genius. 
I  saw  him  upon  tin*  frightful  field  of  Waterloo,  where  Chance 
and  Fate  combined  to  wreck  the  fortunes  of  their  former 
king.  And  I  saw  him  at  St.  Helena,  with  his  hands  crossed 
behind  him,  gazing  out  upon  the  sad  and  solemn  sea, 

I  thought  of  all  the  orphans  and  widows  he  had  made  — 
of  the  tears  that  had  been  shed  for  his  glory,  and  of  the  9nly 
woman  who  ever  loved  him,  pushed  from  his  heart  by  the 
ruthless  hand  of  ambition.  And  I  said  I  would  rather  have 
been  a  French  peasant  and  worn  wooden  shoes;  I  would 
rather  have  lived  in  a  hut  with  the  vines  growing  over 
the  door  and  the  grapes  growing  purple  in  the  kisses  of  the 
autumn  sun,  with  my  loving  wife  knitting  by  my  side  as  the 
day  died  out  the  sky ;  yes,  I  would  rather  have  been  that 
man  and  gone  down  to  the  tongueless  silence  of  the  dream- 
less dust,  than  to  have  been  that  imperial  impersonation  of 
force  and  murder  known  as  Napoleon  the  Great.- 

N".  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  great  to  be  happy.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  be  rich  to  be  generous.  It  is  not  necessary  to 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  203 

be  powerful  to  be  just.  When  the  world  is  £ree,  this  ques- 
tion will  be  settled.  A  new  creed  will  be  written.  In  that 
creed  there  will  be  but  qn£  word,  "Liberty."  O  Liberty, 
float  not  forever  in  the  far  horizon,  remain  not  forever  in 
the  dream  of  the  enthusiast,  dwell  not  forever  in  the  song  of 
the  poet,  but  come  and  make  thy  home  among  the  children 
of  men.  -*\  know  not  what  thoughts,  what  discoveries,  what 
inventions  may  leap  from  the  brain  of  man ;  I  know  not  what 
garments  of  glory  may  be  woven  by  the  years  to  come ;  I 
cannot  dream  of  the  victories  to  be  won  upon  the  field  of 
thought.  But  I  do  know  that  coming  from  the  infinite  sea 
of  the  future  there  shall  never  touch  this  bank  and  shoal  of 
time,  a  richer  gift,  a  rarer  blessing,  than  Liberty. 


REVOLUTIONS. 

WENDELL   PHILLIPS. 

An  extract  from  his  lecture  on  "Public  Opinion." 

Whenever  you  meet  a  dozen  earnest  men  pledged  to  a 
new  idea,  you  meet  the  beginning  of  a  new  revolution. 
Revolutions  are  not  made;  they  come.  A  revolution  is  as 
natural  a  growth  as  an  oak.  It  comes  out  of  the  past ;  its 
foundations  are  laid  far  back.  The  child  feels;  he  grows 
into  a  man,  and  thinks ;  another,  perhaps,  speaks ;  and  the 
world  acts  out  the  thought.  And  this  is  the  history  of 
modern  society.  Men  undervalue  great  reform  movements 
because  they  imagine  you  can  always  put  your  finger  on 
some  illustrious  moment  in  history  and  say,  "Here  com- 
menced the  great  change  which  has  come  over  the  nation." 

Not  so.      The  beginning  of   a  great  change  is  like  the 


-'"4  PUBLIC   SPEAK  I  Y',. 

rising  of  the  Mississippi.  You  must  stoop  and  gather  away 
the  pebbles  to  find  it.  But  soon  it  swells  broader  ami 
broader ;  bears  on  its  bosom  the  navies  of  a  mighty  repub- 
lic; forms  the  gulf  and  divides  a  continent. 

There  is  a  story  of  Napoleon  which  illustrates  my  mean- 
ing. We  are  apt  to  trace  the  control  of  France  to  some 
noted  victory;  to  the  tinle  when  he  encamj>ed  in  the  Tui- 
.  or  when  he  dissolved  the  assembly  by  the  stamp  of 
his  foot.  He  reigned  in  fact  when  his  hand  first  felt  the 
helm  of  the  vessel  of  state,  and  that  was  far  back  of  the 
time  when  he  had  conquered  Italy,  or  his  name  had  lu-ni 
echoed  over  two  continents.  It  was  on  the  day  five  hundred 
irresolute  men  \\ viv  met  in  the  assembly  which  called  itself, 
and  pretended  to  be,  the  government  of  France.  They 
heard  that  the  mob  of  Paris  were  coming  next  morning, 
thirty  thousand  strong,  to  turn  them,  as  was  usual  in  those 
days,  out  of  doors.  And  where  did  this  seemingly 
power  go  for  its  support  and  refuge  ?  They  sent  Tallien  to 
seek  out  a  boy  lieutenant — the  shadow  of  an  officer — so  thin 
and  pallid  that  when  he  was  placed  on  the  stand  before  them, 
the  president  of  the  assembly,  fearful,  if  the  fate  of  France 
rested  on  the  shrunken  form,  the  ashen  cheek,  before  him, 
that  all  hope  was  gone,  asked,  "  Young  man,  can  you 
protect  the  assembly?"  The  stern  lip  of  the  Corsican  boy 
parted  only  to  say,  "  I  always  do  what  I  undertake." 

Then  and  there  Napoleon  ascended  his  throne;  and  the 
next  day  from  the  steps  of  the  St.  Roche  thundered  forth  the 
cannon  which  taught  the  mob  of  Paris,  for  the  first  lime. 
that  it  had  a  master.  That  was  the  commencement  of  the 
empire. 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  205 

THE   NEW   SOUTH   AND  THE   RACE   PROBLEM. 

HENRY    \V.    GRADY. 

Extract  from  an  address  before  the  Boston  Mercantile  Association, 

1889. 

Whatever  the  future  may  hold  for  the  negroes,  —  whether 
they  plod  along  in  the  servitude  from  which  they  have 
never  been  lifted  since  the  Cyrenian  was  laid  hold  upon  by 
the  Roman  soldiers  and  made  to  bear  the  cross  of  the  faint- 
ing Christ  —  whether  they  find  homes  again  in  Africa,  and 
thus  hasten  the  prophecy  of  the  Psalmist  who  said,  "  And 
suddenly  Ethiopia  shall  hold  out  her  hands  unto  God" 
—  whether,  forever  dislocated  and  separate,  they  remain 
a  weak  people  beset  by  a  stronger  —  or  whether  in  this 
miraculous  Republic  they  break  through  the  caste  of  twenty 
centuries  and,  belying  universal  history,  reach  the  full  stat- 
ure of  citizenship  and  in  peace  maintain  it,  —  we  shall  give 
them  uttermost  justice  and  abiding  friendship. 

And  whatever  we  may  do,  into  whatever  seeming  estrange- 
ment we  may  be  driven,  nothing  shall  disturb  the  love  we 
bear  this  Republic,  or  mitigate  our  consecration  to  its  ser- 
vice. I  stand  here  to  profess  no  new  loyalty.  When 
General  Lee,  whose  heart  was  the  temple  of  our  hopes 
and  whose  arm  was  clothed  with  our  strength,  renewed  his 
allegiance  to  this  government  at  Appomattox,  he  spoke  from 
a  heart  too  great  to  be  false,  and  he  spoke  for  every  honest 
man  from  Maryland  to  Texas.  From  that  day  to  this, 
Hamilcar  has  nowhere  in  the  South  sworn  young  Hannibal 
to  hatred  and  revenge,  but  everywhere  to  loyalty  and  to  love. 
Witness  the  veteran  standing  at  the  base  of  the  Confederate 


206  PUBLIC  SPEAEI\<;. 

monument,  above  the  graves  of  his  comrades,  his  empty 
sl»'«'vi-  tossing  in  the  April  wind,  adjuring  the  young  men 
about  him  to  serve  as  honest  and  loyal  citizens  the  govern- 
ment against  which  their  fathers  fought.  This  message, 
delivered  from  that  sacred  presence,  has  gone  home  to  the 
hearts  of  my  fellows.  And  I  declare  here,  if  physical 
courage  be  always  equal  to  human  aspiration,  that  they 
would  die,  if  need  be,  to  restore  this  Republic  their  fathers 
fought  to  dissolve! 

Such  is  this  question  as  we  see  it,  such  is  the  temper 
in  which  we  approach  it,  such  the  progress  made.  What 
do  we  ask  of  you?  First,  patience;  second,  confidence; 
third,  sympathy;  fourth,  loyalty  to  the  Republic — for 
there  is  sectionalism  in  loyalty  as  in  estrangement.  This 
hour  little  needs  the  loyalty  that  is  loyal  to  one  section, 
while  it  holds  the  other  in  enduring  suspicion  and  estrange- 
ment. Give  us  the  broad  and  perfect  loyalty  that  loves  and 
trusts  Georgia  alike  with  Massachusetts  —  that  "knows  no 
South,  no  North,  no  East,  no  West,"  but  endears  with  equal 
and  patriotic  love  every  foot  of  our  soil,  every  state  of  our 
Union. 

A  mighty  duty  and  a  mighty  inspiration  impels  every 
one  of  us  to  lose  in  patriotic  consecration  whatever  estranges, 
whatever  divides.  We  are  Americans,  and  we  fight  for 
human  liberty!  The  uplifting  force  of  the  American  idea 
is  under  every  throne  on  earth.  France,  Brazil  —  these  are 
our  victories.  To  redeem  the  earth  from  kingcraft  and 
oppression  —  this  is  our  mission!  And  we  shall  not  fail. 
God  has  sown  in  our  soil  the  seed  of  his  millennial  harvest, 
and  He  will  not  apply  the  sickle  to  the  ripening  crop  until 
His  full  and  perfect  day  has  come.  Our  history  has 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  207 

been  a  constant  and  expanding  miracle  from  Plymouth  Rock 
and  Jamestown  all  the  way  —  aye,  even  from  the  hour  when 
from  the  voiceless  and  trackless  ocean  a  new  world  rose  to 
the  sight  of  the  inspired  sailor.  As  we  approach  the  fourth 
centennial  of  that  stupendous  day,  —  when  the  old  world 
will  come  to  marvel  and  to  learn,  —  amid  our  gathered  pleas- 
ures let  us  resolve  to  crown  the  miracles  of  our  past  with 
the  spectacle  of  a  Republic  compact,  united,  indissoluble  in 
the  bonds  of  love  —  serene  and  resplendent  at  the  summit 
of  human  achievement  and  earthly  glory  —  blazing  out  the 
path  and  making  clear  the  way  up  which  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  must  come  in  God's  appointed  time! 


ENGLAND   AND  THE    AMERICAN  COLONIES. 

KDMUND    BURKE. 

Extract  from  the  peroration  of  Burke' s  speech  on  "  Conciliation 
with  the  Colonies,"  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons,  March 
£2,  1775. 

My  hold  of  the  colonies  is  in  the  close  affection  which 
grows  from  common  names,  from  kindred  blood,  from  simi- 
lar privileges,  and  equal  protection.  These  are  ties,  which, 
though  light  as  air,  yet  are  as  strong  as  links  of  iron. 
Let  the  colonists  always  keep  the  idea  of  their  civil  rights 
associated  with  your  government,  — they  will  cling  and  grap- 
ple to  you,  and  no  force  under  heaven  will  be  of  power  to 
tear  them  from  their  allegiance.  But  let  it  be  once  under- 
stood that  your  government  may  be  one  thing,  and  their 
privileges  another,  that  these  two  things  may  exist  without 
any  mutual  relation,  —  the  cement  is  gone,  the  cohesion 


208  rniLir  >/'/•;.  I/C/.NV;. 


is  loosened  ;  and  everything  hastens  to  decay  and  dissolu- 
tion. 

As  long  as  you  have  the  wisdom  to  keep  the  sovereign 
authority  of  this  country  as  the  sanctuary  of  liberty, 
wherever  that  chosen  race  —  the  sons  of  England  —  worship 
freedom,  they  will  turn  their  faces  toward  you.  The  more 
they  multiply,  the  more  friends  you  will  have;  the  more 
ardently  they  love  liberty,  the  more  perfect  will  be  their 
obedience.  Slavery  they  can  have  anywhere  ;  it  is  a  weed 
that  grows  in  every  soil.  But  until  you  become  lost  to  all 
feeling  of  your  true  interest  and  your  natural  dignity,  free- 
dom they  can  have  from  none  but  you.  This  is  the  com- 
modity of  price,  of  which  you  have  the  monopoly.  This 
is  the  true  Act  of  Navigation,  which  binds  to  you  the  com- 
merce of  the  colonies,  and,  through  them,  secures  to  you 
the  wealth  of  the  world.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  English 
constitution,  which,  infused  through  the  mighty  n  in- 
vades, feeds,  unites,  invigorates,  vivifies  every  part  of  the 
empire,  even  down  to  the  minutest  member. 

Is  it  not  the  same  virtue  which  does  everything  for  us  here 
in  England  ?  Do  you  imagine  that  it  is  the  Land-tax  Act 
which  raises  your  revenue  ?  that  it  is  the  annual  vote  in  the 
Committee  of  Supply  which  gives  you  your  army?  or  that 
it  is  the  Mutiny  Bill  which  inspires  it  with  bravery  and 
discipline  ?  No  !  surely  no  !  It  is  the  love  of  the  people  ; 
it  is  their  attachment  to  their  government,  from  the  sense 
of  the  deep  stake  they  have  in  such  a  glorious  institution, 
which  gives  you  your  army  and  your  navy,  and  infuses  into 
both  that  liberal  obedience  without  which  your  army  would 
be  a  base  rabble,  and  your  navy  nothing  but  rotten  timber 


SELECTIONS  FOE  PRACTICE.  209 

A  MESSAGE   TO   GARCIA. 

ELBERT    HUBBARD. 

Extract  from  an  article  in  the  "  Philistine"  for  March,  1899. 

When  war  broke  out  between  Spain  and  the  United  States^ 
it  \\;is  very  necessary  to  communicate  quickly  with  the  leader 
of  the  Insurgents.  Garcia  was  somewhere  in  the  mountain 
fastnesses  of  Cuba  —  no  one  knew  where.  No  mail  or  tele- 
graph message  could  reach  him.  The  President  must  secure 
his  cooperation,  and  quickly. 

What  to  do ! 

Some  one  said  to  the  President,  "  There's  a  fellow  by  the 
name  of  Rowan  will  find  Garcia  for  you  if  anybody  can." 
Rowan  was  sent  for  and  given  a  letter  to  be  delivered  to 
Garcia.  How  "  the  fellow  by  the  name  of  Rowan  "  took 
the  letter,  sealed  it  up  in  an  oilskin  pouch,  strapped  it  over 
his  heart,  in  four  days  landed  by  night  off  the  coast  of  Cuba 
from  an  open  boat,  disappeared  into  the  jungle,  and  in  three 
weeks  came  out  on  the  other  side  of  the  island,  having  trav- 
ersed a  hostile  country  on  foot,  and  delivered  his  letter  to 
Garcia,  are  things  I  have  no  special  desire  now  to  tell  in 
detail. 

The  point  I  wish  to  make  is  this  :  McKinley  gave  Rowan 
a  letter  to  be  delivered  to  Garcia;  Rowan  took  the  letter 
and  did  not  ask,  "  Where  is  he  at  ?  "  By  the  Eternal !  there 
is  a  man  whose  form  should  be  cast  in  deathless  bronze  and 
the  statue  placed  in  every  college  of  the  land.  It  is  not 
book-learning  young  men  need,  nor  instruction  about  this 
and  that,  but  a  stiffening  of  the  vertebrae  which  will  cause 
them  to  be  loyal  to  a  trust,  to  act  promptly,  concentrate 


210  PUBLIC   SPEAKING. 

• 

their  energies ;  do  the  thing  — "  Carry  a  message  to 
Garcia!" 

General  Garcia  is  dead  now,  but  there  are  other  Garcias. 
No  man  who  has  endeavored  to  carry  out  an  enterprise 
win  TO  many  hands  were  needed,  but  has  been  well-nigh 
appalled  at  times  by  the  imbecility  of  the  average  man  — 
the  inability  or  unwillingness  to  concentrate  on  a  thing  and 
do  it.  Slip-shod  assistance,  foolish  inattention,  dowdy  in- 
difference, and  half-hearted  work  seem  the  rule;  and  no 
man  succeeds,  unless  by  hook  or  crook,  or  threat,  he  forces 
or  bribes  other  men  to  assist  him ;  or  mayhap,  God  in  His 
goodness  performs  a  miracle,  and  sends  him  an  angel  of 
light  for  an  assistant. 

And  this  incapacity  for  independent  action,  this  moral 
stupidity,  this  infirmity  of  the  will,  this  unwillingness  to 
cheerfully  catch  hold  and  lift,  are  the  things  that  put  pure 
socialism  so  far  into  the  future.  If  men  will  not  act  for 
themselves,  what  will  they  do  when  the  benefit  of  their 
effort  is  for  all? 

My  heart  goes  out  to  the  man  who  does  his  work  when 
the  "  boss  "  is  away,  as  well  as  when  he  is  at  home.  And  the 
man,  who,  when  given  a  letter  for  Garcia,  quietly  takes  the 
missive,  without  asking  any  idiotic  questions,  and  with  no 
lurking  intention  of  chucking  it  into  the  nearest  sewer,  or 
of  doing  aught  else  but  deliver  it,  never  gets  "  laid  off,"  nor 
has  to  go  on  a  strike  for  higher  wages.  Civilization  is  one 
long  anxious  search  for  just  such  individuals.  Anything 
such  a  man  asks  shall  be  granted ;  his  kind  is  so  rare  that 
no  employer  can  afford  to  let  him  go.  He  is  wanted  in  every 
city,  town,  and  village  —  in  every  office,  shop,  store,  and 
factory.  The  world  cries  out  for  such ;  he  is  needed, 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  211 

and  needed  badly  —  the  man  who  can  carry  a  message  to 
Garcia. 


COLUMBUS. 

CHAUNCEY    M.    DEPEW. 

God  always  has  in  training  some  commanding  genius  for 
the  control  of  great  crises  in  the  affairs  of  nations  and 
peoples.  The  number  of  these  leaders  is  less  than  the  cen- 
turies, but  their  lives  are  the  history  of  human  progress. 
Though  Caesar,  and  Charlemagne,  and  Hildebrand,  and 
Luther,  and  William  the  Conqueror,  and  Oliver  Cromwell, 
and  all  the  epoch-makers  prepared  Europe  for  the  event, 
and  contributed  to  the  result,  the  lights  which  illumine  our 
firmament  to-day  are  Columbus  the  discoverer,  Washington 
the  founder,  and  Lincoln  the  saviour. 

It  was  a  happy  omen  of  the  position  which  woman  was 
to  hold  in  America  that  the  only  person  who  comprehended 
the  majestic  scope  of  his  plans  and  the  invincible  quality  of 
his  genius,  was  the  able  and  gracious  Queen  of  Castile. 
Isabella  alone  of  all  the  dignitaries  of  that  age  shares  with 
Columbus  the  honors  of  his  great  achievement.  She 
arrayed  her  kingdom  and  her  private  fortune  behind  the 
enthusiasm  of  this  mystic  mariner,  and  posterity  pays  hom- 
age to  her  wisdom  and  faith. 

The  overthrow  of  the  Mahometan  power  in  Spain  would 
have  been  a  forgotten  scene  in  one  of  the  innumerable  acts 
in  the  grand  drama  of  history,  had  not  Isabella  conferred 
immortality  upon  herself,  her  husband,  and  their  dual 
crown,  by  her  recognition  of  Columbus.  The  devout  spirit 
of  the  queen  and  the  high  purpose  of  the  explorer  inspired 


•2\'2  prinjr   SPXAXIIIQ. 


the  voyage,  subdued  the  mutinous  crew,  and  prevailed  over 
th«-  racing  storms.  They  covered  with  divine  radiance  of 
religion  and  humanity  the  degrading  search  for  gold  and 
the  horrors  of  its  quest,  which  tilled  the  first  century  of 
conquest  with  every  form  of  lust  and  greed. 

The  mighty  soul  of  the  great  admiral  was  undaunted  by 
tlif  ingratitude  of  princes  and  the  hostility  of  the  people, 
l»y  imprisonment  and  neglect.  He  died  as  he  was  securing 
the  means  and  preparing  a  campaign  for  the  rescue  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  from  the  infidel.  He  did  not 
know,  what  time  has  revealed,  that,  while  the  mission  of  the 
<Tu>ades  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  and  Richard  of  the  Lion 
Heart  was  a  bloody  and  fruitless  romance,  the  discovery  of 
America  was  the  salvation  of  the  world.  The  one  was  the 
symbol,  the  other  the  spirit  ;  the  one  death,  the  other  life. 
The  tomb  of  the  Saviour  was  a  narrow  and  empty  vault, 
precious  only  for  its  memories  of  the  supreme  tragedy  of 
the  centuries;  but  the  new  continent  was  to  be  the  home 
and  temple  of  the  living  God. 

All  hail,  Columbus,  discoverer,  dreamer,  hero,  and  apostle  ! 
We  here,  of  every  race  and  country,  recognize  the  horizon 
which  bounded  his  vision  and  the  infinite  scope  of  his 
genius.  The  voice  of  gratitude  and  praise  for  all  the  bless- 
ings which  have  been  showered  upon  mankind  by  adventure 
is  limited  to  no  language,  but  is  uttered  in  every  tongue. 
Neither  marble  nor  brass  can  fitly  form  his  statue.  Con- 
tinents are  his  monuments,  and  innumerable  millions,  past, 
present,  and  to  come,  who  enjoy  in  their  liberties  and  their 
happiness  the  fruits  of  his  faith,  will  reverently  guard  and 
preserve,  from  century  to  century,  his  name  and  fame. 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  213 

THE  PILGRIMS. 

EDWARD     KVERETT. 

From  the  dark  portals  of  the  Star  Chamber  and  in  the 
stern  text  of  the  Acts  of  Uniformity  the  Pilgrims  received 
a  commission  more  important  than  any  that  ever  bore  the 
royal  seal.  Their  banishment  to  Holland  was  fortunate ; 
the  decline  of  their  little  company  in  the  strange  land  was 
fortunate  ;  the  difficulties  which  they  experienced  in  getting 
the  royal  consent  to  banish  themselves  to  this  wilderness 
were  fortunate ;  all  the  tears  and  heart-breakings  of  that 
ever  memorable  parting  at  Delfshaven  had  the  happiest 
influence  on  the  rising  destinies  of  New  England.  These 
rough  touches  of  fortune  brushed  off  the  light,  uncertain, 
selfish  spirits ;  they  made  it  a  grave,  solemn,  self-denying 
expedition.  They  cast  a  broad  shadow  of  thought  and 
seriousness  over  the  cause ;  and  if  this  sometimes  deepened 
into  severity  and  bitterness,  can  we  rind  no  apology  for 
such  a  human  weakness? 

Their  trials  of  wandering  and  exile,  of  the  ocean,  the 
winter,  the  wilderness,  and  the  savage  foe,  were  the  final 
assurance  of  success.  They  kept  far  away  from  the  enter- 
prise all  patrician  softness,  all  hereditary  claims  to  pre- 
eminence. No  effeminate  nobility  crowded  into  the  dark 
and  austere  ranks  of  the  Pilgrims;  no  Carr  or  Vipers? 
desired  to  lead  on  the  ill-provided  band  of  despised  Puri- 
tans;  no  well-endowed  clergy  were  anxious  to  quit  their 
cathedrals  and  set  up  a  pompous  hierarchy  in  the  frozen 
wilderness ;  no  craving  governors  were  on  the  alert  to  be 
sent  over  to  our  cheerless  El  Dorados  of  ice  and  snow  : 


214  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

no;  they  could  not  say  they  had  encouraged,  patronized, 
or  helped  the  Pilgrims;  they  could  not  afterwards  fairly 
pretend  to  reap  where  they  had  not  strown.  And  as  our 
fathers  reared  this  broad  and  solid  fabric  unaided,  barely 
tolerated,  it  did  not  fall  when  the  favor,  which  had  always 
been  withholden,  was  changed  into  wrath ;  when  the  arm, 
which  had  never  supported,  was  raised  to  destroy. 

Shut  now  the  volume  of  history,  and  tell  me,  on  any 
principle  of  human  probability,  what  shall  be  the  fate  of 
this  handful  of  adventurers.  Tell  me,  man  of  military 
science,  in  how  many  months  were  they  all  swept  off  by 
the  thirty  savage  tribes  enumerated  within  the  early  limits 
of  New  England  ?  Tell  me,  politician,  how  long  did  this 
shadow  of  a  colony,  on  which  your  conventions  and  treaties 
had  not  smiled,  languish  on  the  distant  coast  ?  Student  of 
history,  compare  for  me  the  baffled  projects,  the  deserted 
settlements,  the  abandoned  adventures  of  other  times,  and 
find  the  parallel  of  this.  Was  it  the  winter's  storm,  beat- 
ing upon  the  houseless  heads  of  women  and  children  ?  V 
it  disease  ?  Was  it  the  tomahawk  ?  Was  it  the  deep 
malady  of  a  blighted  hope,  a  ruined  enterprise,  and  a  broken 
heart  aching  in  its  last  moments  at  the  recollection  of  the 
loved  and  left  beyond  the  sea?  —  Was  it  some  or  all  of 
these  united  that  hurried  this  forsaken  company  to  their 
melancholy  fate  ?  And  is  it  possible  that  neither  of  these 
causes,  that  not  all  combined,  were  able  to  blast  this  bud  of 
hope  ?  Is  it  possible  that  from  a  beginning  so  feeble,  so 
frail,  so  worthy  not  so  much  of  admiration  as  of  pity,  there 
has  gone  forth  a  progress  so  steady,  a  growth  so  wonderful, 
a  reality  so  important,  a  promise,  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  so 
glorious  ? 


SELECTIONS  FOK   PRACTICE.  215 

TRIBUTE   TO  LINCOLN. 

EMILIO    CASTELAR. 

The  Puritans  are  the  patriarchs  of  liberty ;  they  opened  a 
new  world  on  the  earth ;  they  opened  a  new  path  for  the 
human  conscience  ;  they  created  a  new  society.  Yet,  when 
England  tried  to  subdue  them  and  they  conquered,  the  Re- 
public triumphed  and  slavery  remained.  Washington  could 
emancipate  only  his  own  slaves.  Franklin  said  that  the 
Virginians  could  not  invoke  the  name  of  God,  retaining 
slavery.  Jay  said  that  all  the  prayers  America  sent  up  to 
heaven  for  the  preservation  of  liberty  while  slavery  contin- 
ued were  mere  blasphemies.  Mason  mourned  over  the  pay- 
ment his  descendants  must  make  for  this  great  crime  of  their 
fathers.  Jefferson  traced  the  line  where  the  black  wave  of 
slavery  should  be  stayed. 

Nevertheless,  slavery  increased  continually.  I  beg  that 
you  will  pause  a  moment  to  consider  the  man  who  cleansed 
this  terrible  stain  which  obscured  the  stars  of  the  American 
banner.  I  beg  that  you  will  pause  a  moment,  for  his  immor- 
tal name  has  been  invoked  for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery. 
Ah !  the  past  century  has  not,  the  century  to  come  will  not 
have,  a  figure  so  grand,  because  as  evil  disappears  so  disap- 
pears heroism  also. 

I  have  often  contemplated  and  described  his  life.  Born 
in  a  cabin  of  Kentucky,  of  parents  who  could  hardly  read ; 
born  a  new  Moses  in  the  solitude  of  the  desert,  where  are 
forged  all  great  and  obstinate  thoughts,  monotonous  like  the 
desert,  and,  like  the  desert,  sublime;  growing  up  among 
those  primeval  forests,  which,  with  their  fragrance,  send  a 


210 

cloud  of  incense,  and,  with  their  murmurs,  a  cloud  of  prayers 
to  heaven;  a  boatman  at  eight  years  in  the  impetuous  cur- 
rent of  the  Ohio,  and  at  seventeen  in  the  vast  and  tranquil 
waters  of  the  Mississippi ;  later,  a  woodman,  with  axe  and 
arm  felling  the  immemorial  trees,  to  open  a  way  to  unex- 
plored regions  for  his  tribe  of  wandering  workers ;  reading 
no  other  book  than  the  Bible,  the  book  of  great  sorrows  and 
great  hopes,  dictated  often  by  prophets  to  the  sound  of  fet- 
ters they  dragged  through  Nineveh  and  Babylon ;  a  child  of 
Nature,  in  a  word,  by  one  of  those  miracles  only  comprehen- 
sible among  free  peoples,  he  fought  for  the  country,  and  was 
raised  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  the  Congress  at  Washington, 
and  by  the  nation  to  the  presidency  of  the  Republic ;  and 
when  the  evil  grew  more  virulent,  when  those  states  were 
dissolved,  when  the  slaveholders  uttered  their  war-cry  and 
the  slaves  their  groans  of  despair  —  the  wood-cutter,  the 
boatman,  the  son  of  the  great  West,  the  descendant  of 
Quakers,  humblest  of  the  humble  before  his  consciem -P. 
greatest  of  the  great  before  history,  ascends  the  Capitol,  the 
greatest  moral  height  of  our  time,  and  strong  and  serene 
with  his  conscience  and  his  thought,  —  before  him  a  vet- 
eran army,  hostile  Europe  behind  him,  England  favoring  the 
South,  France  encouraging  reaction  in  Mexico,  in  his  hands 
the  riven  country,  —  he  arms  two  millions  of  men,  gathers  a 
half  million  of  horses,  sends  his  artillery  twelve  hundred 
miles  in  a  week,  from  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  to  the 
shores  of  Tennessee;  tights  more  than  six  hundred  battles; 
renews  before  Richmond  the  deeds  of  Alexander,  of  Caesar ; 
and,  after  having  emancipated  three  million  slaves,  that 
nothing  might  be  wanting,  he  dies  in  the  very  moment  of 
victory  —  like  Christ,  like  Socrates,  like  all  redeemers,  at 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  217 

the  foot  of  his  work.  His  work!  Sublime  achievement! 
over  which  humanity  shall  eternally  shed  its  tears,  and  God 
his  benedictions ! 


THE     LAW,    INDIVIDUAL    LIBERTY,  AND    THE    MOB 
SPIRIT. 

JOHN  WOODWARD. 

From  an  address  at  the  Chautauqua  Assembly,  August  15,  190S. 

The  common  business  and  callings  of  life,  the  ordinary 
trades  and  pursuits  which  are  innocent  in  themselves,  and 
have  been  followed  in  all  communities  from  time  im- 
memorial, must  be  free  in  this  countiy  to  all  alike  upon  the 
same  terms.  The  right  to  pursue  them  without  let  or 
hinderance,  except  that  which  is  applied  to  all  persons  of 
the  same  age,  sex,  and  condition,  is  a  distinguishing  privi- 
lege of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  an  essential 
element  of  that  freedom  which  they  claim  as  their  birth- 
right. 

This  language  was  used  to  define  the  Constitutional  limi- 
tations upon  the  Legislature,  but  it  is  equally  applicable 
to  the  limitations  which  must,  in  a  healthful  condition  of 
society,  apply  to  individuals  and  associations  of  every  char- 
acter. The  individual  has  a  right  to  "  pursue  any  lawful 
business  or  vocation  in  any  manner  not  inconsistent  with 
the  equal  rights  of  others,"  and  this  right  is  not  increased 
or  diminished  by  the  fact  that  he  becomes  a  member  of 
a  manufacturers'  association,  a  labor  organization,  or  any 
other  voluntary  society. 

The  manufacturer,  whether  he  be  an  individual  or  a  cor- 


218  PUBLIC  8PXAKINO. 

poration,  has  a  right  to  conduct  his  business,  to  control  his 
property,  in  any  manner  not  inconsistent  with  the  equal 
rights  of  others.  He  has  a  right  to  employ  such  help  as  he 
chooses,  being  responsible  to  his  other  employees  for  any 
neglect  in  the  choice  of  competent  fellow-laborers,  and 
society  owes  him  the  duty  and  the  obligation  of  protecting 
him  in  this  right  against  all  unlawful  efforts  at  coercion. 

On  the  other  hand  the  laborer,  whether  he  belongs  to  an 
organization  or  is  but  a  humble  covenanter  in  the  great 
system,  has  the  absolute  right  to  contract  for  his  services 
with  whomsoever  he  pleases,  and  the  right  to  contract 
carries  with  it  the  right  to  determine  the  rate  of  compensa- 
tion and  all  of  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  employment 
except  such  as  may  be  regulated  under  the  police  powers  of 
the  State,  and  which  enter,  of  necessity,  into  every  contract. 

Having  these  rights,  these  being  the  rights  which  we 
have  mutually  covenanted  to  protect,  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  insist  that  they  shall  not  be  encroached  upon, 
either  by  individuals  or  organized  bodies  of  individuals, 
under  any  pretext  whatever.  "  The  very  idea  of  the  power 
and  the  right  of  the  people  to  establish  government,"  says 
Washington,  "presupposes  the  duty  of  every  individual  to 
obey  the  established  government." 

In  what  I  have  said  I  am  not  to  be  understood  as  con- 
demning the  labor  organization  as  such,  or  the  manufac- 
turers' association,  or  any  combination  of  individuals  for 
their  own  ends.  On  the  whole  I  am  rather  disposed  to 
look  upon  the  labor  organization  as  the  logical  result  of 
combination  in  capitalization,  and  upon  both  as  the  results 
of  our  economic  system,  and  my  criticism  is  rather  of  the 
inertness  of  the  State  and  Nation,  which  has  caused  to  be 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  219 

regarded  with  too  much  of  indifference  the  tendency  on  the 
part  of  individuals,  corporations,  and  associations  to  dis- 
regard the  fundamental  rights  of  man  and  to  assume,  in 
disregard  of  law,  to  adjust  by  force  and  intimidation  their 
own  controversies. 

The  rights  of  the  laboring  man  are  not  safe  when  he  may 
be  coerced  into  refusing  that  employment  which  is  essential 
to  his  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  the 
welfare  of  the  State  and  Nation  demands  that  there  shall 
be  no  compulsion  exercised  over  the  individual  by  any  com- 
bination of  men  under  any  pretext,  except  such  as  is  pre-. 
scribed  by  the  laws  of  the  land.  There  is  a  broad  field  for 
organized  effort  in  a  perfectly  legitimate  and  lawful  way, 
among  manufacturers,  employers,  and  employees ;  and  when 
any  organization,  no  matter  by  what  name  it  is  called,  goes 
beyond  the  limits  marked  by  the  law,  it  is  the  duty  of  good 
citizens,  acting  through  the  channels  of  the  law,  to  assert 
themselves  in  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  those  who  are 
being  encroached  upon. 

There  is  no  other  safety,  there  is  no  other  way  in  which 
we  can  maintain  that  justice  which  "  gives  to  each  member 
of  the  community  his  due,  without  favor  or  affection." 


INSIGHT  AND  FORESIGHT. 

From  the  Outlook.  June  27,  1903. 

There  are  two  forms  of  knowledge  which  the  college  can 
do  but  little  to  furnish,  but  which  you  must  acquire  if  you 
are  to  succeed  in  life.  Perhaps  we  should  rather  say,  two 


220  rriiLic  SPEAKIXG. 

forms  of  capacity :  one  is  represented  by  the  word  Insight, 
the  other  by  the  word  Foresight. 

If  you  are  to  deal  successfully  with  men,  you  must  under- 
stand them.  You  must  know  their  nature,  and  the  motives 
which  control  them.  If  you  are  to  live  peaceably  with  them, 
you  must  know  how  to  avoid  needless  friction.  If  you  are 
to  lead  them,  you  must  know  how  to  win  their  confidence, 
esteem,  respect.  To  do  this  you  must  enter  into  their  lives, 
see  things  as  they  see  them,  get  their  point  of  view,  be  able 
to  put  yourself  in  their  place.  You  must  be  able  to  do  this 
.not  only  for  right-thinking,  right-willing,  and  reasonable 
I  men ;  you  must  be  able  to  do  it  for  wrong-thinking,  preju- 
Idiced,  and  unreasonable  men,  for  with  such  men  you^will 
have  to  do  in  your  life. 

The  other  knowledge  or  capacity  which  you  must  acquire 
is  Foresight.  "There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
rough-hew  them  how  we  will."  We  must  understand  what 
He  is  doing,  to  what  end  He  is  shaping  our  generation.  \\V 
are  like  men  upon  the  deck  of  an  ocean  steamer.  We  can 
walk  forward  or  backward,  or  not  walk  at  all ;  but  we  are 
borne  on  toward  a  distant  point  by  forces  which  transcend 
our  understanding,  and  which  we  can  do  little  to  direct. 
The  currents  which  control  our  lives  are  almost  wholly 
beyond  our  control,  and  we  succeed  in  life  only  as  we  under- 
stand what  those  currents  are  and  whither  they  are  carrying 
us.  We  fail  in  life,  however  sagacious,  strong,  talented, 
and  learned,  if  we  set  ourselves  against  those  life-currents, 
endeavoring  to  thwart  them,  or  if  we  live  in  ignorance 
of  them,  as  though  they  did  not  exist.  You  must  under- 
stand the  currents  of  this  age  if  you  are  to  live  successfully 
in  it. 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  221 

The  individualism  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
belongs  to  the  past.  Ruthless  and  unlimited  competition 
is  passing  away.  No  human  forces  are  strong  enough  to 
restore  it.  We  are  living  in  the  age  of  combination  and  co- 
operation. The  man  who  endeavors  to  prevent  combination, 
whether  of  capital  or  of  labor,  swims  against  a  resistless 
tide.  He  walks  from  the  bow  to  the  stem  of  a  steamer 
which  is  steadily  carrying  him  in  the  direction  opposite  to 
that  in  which  he  thinks  he  is  walking.  The  wise  leader  of 
industry  will  neither  ignore  the  competition  of  the  past  nor 
attempt  to  resist  the  tendency  to  cooperation  and  combina- 
tion in  the  present.  He  will  endeavor  to  see  how,  out  of  the 
competition  of  the  past,  to  construct  a  combination  and 
cooperation  which  will  preserve  the  virtues  and  values  of 
individualism,  and  secure  also  the  virtues  and  values  of  a 
true,  free,  cooperative  fellowship. 

The  tendency  toward  combination  is  as  apparent  in  gov- 
ernment as  it  is  in  industry.  It  is  a  part  of  the  great  move- 
ment toward  universal  brotherhood  which  can  be  guided,  but 
cannot  be  thwarted.  The  separate  and  jealous  provinces  of 
Italy  are  united  in  one  Italian  kingdom.  The  hostile  Ger- 
man States  are  united  in  one  German  Empire.  Egypt,  India, 
Australia,  have  become  parts  of  the  great  British  Empire. 
The  frantic  endeavor  for  the  dissolution  of  the  American 
commonwealth  in  the  interests  of  political  individualism 
failed.  In  lieu  of  it,  the  American  flag  floats  not  only  over 
all  the  former  American  commonwealth,  but,  in  spite  of  the 
protests  of  the  timid,  carries  American  sovereignty  across 
the  ocean  to  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines.  Commerce  beckons 
American  enterprise  to  enter  the  East,  a  thousand  miles 
nearer  our  coast  than  to  the  British  Isles,  and  opportunity 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

•  I* -mauds  of  us  a  courage  and  a  wisdom  equal  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  new  day  which  dawns  with  the  new  century. 
To  resist  the  tendency  toward  what  men  miscall  imperialism 
is  a  hopeless  task ;  to  guide  the  tendency  so  that  wherever 
the  American  flag  carries  with  it  American  sovereignty,  it 
shall  also  carry  with  it  liberty,  justice,  and  good  will,  is  tin- 
problem  which  the  God  of  nations  calls  on  you  to  solve. 

In  religion  the  supreme  and  final  authority  has  passed, 
for  substantially  all  Protestant  denominations,  from  the 
Church,  and  is  passing,  despite  the  hopeless  resistance  of 
many,  from  the  Bible.  The  minister  of  the  future  must 
learn  that  the  secret  of  authority  is  God  in  the  individual 
conscience,  and  that  the  authority  both  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  Bible  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have  both  inter- 
preted that  voice  to  human  souls.  He  who  would  succeed 
in  the  religious  development  of  his  age  must  not  live  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  still  less  in  the  sixteenth.  He  must 
live  in  the  twentieth  century,  and  must  show  men  how  to 
use  both  the  Church  and  the  Bible  in  interpreting  that 
voice  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man  which  is  the  secret  of  all 
authority  —  social,  political,  and  religious. 

You  may  not  agree  with  this  interpretation  of  the  life- 
currents  of  this  twentieth  century.  We  briefly  describe 
them,  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  you  see  life  as  we  see 
it,  but  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  you  to  turn  your  faces 
toward  the  future  and  see  for  yourselves  whither  those 
life-currents  are  guiding  you.  The  knowledge  of  the  past 
will  not  give  you  success  in  the  present,  unless  out  of  that 
past  you  learn  lessons  to  guide  you  toward  the  future  to 
which  God  is  bringing  the  children  of  men.  All  that  you 
have  learned  of  history  and  literature,  of  science  and  of  art, 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  223 

in  your  college  course  will  serve  to  enrich  your  life  and 
that  of  your  fellow-men,  will  serve  to  give  you  real  influence 
over  them  and  real  leadership  in  your  age,  only  as,  to  the 
scholarship  which  the  college  has  conferred  upon  you,  you 
add  by  your  own  individual  study  of  life  and  men  these 
two  vital  qualities,  Insight  and  Foresight  —  an  understand- 
ing of  men,  and  some  comprehension  of  the  future  toward 
which  you  must  guide  both  them  and  yourself. 


THE  TRUE   SPIRIT   FOR  INDEPENDENCE   DAY. 

YANCEY   LEWIS. 

An  address  delivered  at  the  University  of  Texas,  March  2,  1903. 

We  honor  ourselves  by  celebrating  this  day.  We  prove 
that  we  are  not  insensible  to  a  heroic  chapter  in  human  his- 
tory, nor  lacking  in  gratitude  to  those  by  whose  calm  wis- 
dom and  supreme  fortitude  we  have  been  blessed.  But  we  do 
not,  we  cannot,  add  aught  of  honor  to  those  who  made  this 
day  memorable.  High  above  our  feeble  tribute,  their  works 
do  honor  them ;  and  their  works  endure.  They  endure  in 
the  thrilling  story  which  shall  not  only  inspire  us  and  our 
successors  after  us,  but  shall  strengthen  the  hearts  of  men 
who,  in  distant  times  and  under  other  skies,  shall  strike  for 
freedom.  They  endure  in  the  wise  policies  by  which  the 
administration  of  justice  is  simplified,  the  rights  of  woman- 
hood enlarged,  the  rights  of  the  family  and  the  home  safe- 
guarded. They  endure  in  this  University,  reared  by  courage 
joined  with  wisdom,  broad-based  upon  a  people's  will,  conse- 
crated to  the  education,  without  price,  of  all  those,  whether 


224  PUBLIC  SPEAKI\<,. 

low-born  or  powerful,  who  aspire  to  be  free  of  the  shackles  of. 
ignorance  and  to  walk  in  the  glorious  light  of  knowledge. 
They  endure  in  this  great  commonwealth,  marked  out  by 
area,  by  climatic  condition,  by  physical  environment,  and 
by  the  indwelling  spirit  of  its  people,  for  empire  —  in  this 
huge  leviathan  among  the  States,  not  yet  articulate,  not  yet 
having  the  unity  of  its  highest  purpose,  nor  wrought  to  its 
best  hope,  but  destined  ultimately,  in  my  view,  to  speak 
with  the  strongest  and  most  individual  voice  of  all  our 
States,  and  to  be  the  most  potent  and  controlling  factor  in 
our  civilization. 

If,  then,  we  cannot  honor  the  dead,  how  shall  we  make  the 
observance  of  this  day  acceptable  to  them  and  serviceable  to 
ourselves  ?  The  loud  acclaim,  the  patriotic  song,  the  studied 
oration,  the  deep-throated  cannon's  roar  —  these  may  be  an 
empty  pageantry,  an  idle  hour's  diversion.  How  shall  we 
make  them  vital  and  significant?  Shall  I  tell  you?  By 
laying  hold  of  the  virtues  of  those  who,  on  this  day,  declared 
their  independence,  by  imbuing  ourselves  with  their  thoughts, 
by  moving  ourselves  with  their  motives,  by  consecrating  our- 
selves to  their  firm  purposes  and  their  high  resolves,  —  by 
declaring  this  day  our  independence  of  all  low  motive  or 
sordid  desire  or  narrow  view  or  ancient  prejudice  or  hoary 
error ;  by  avowing  this  day  that  the  ends  we  aim  at  shall  be 
"  our  country's,  our  God's,  and  truth's." 

Is  there  needed  incentive  to  this  obligation  ?  Let  me  ask 
you :  of  those  millions  who  during  the  ages  have  lived,  la- 
bored, and  died  upon  the  earth,  who  have  helped  its  progress 
or  added  to  its  freedom  ?  I  answer  :  those  few,  the  immor- 
tals, whose  names  the  world  will  not  let  die,  who  in  some 
supreme  juncture  did,  in  the  face  of  God  and  men,  proclaim 


SELECTIONS   FOR   PRACTICE.  225 

their  independence.  In  geography,  Columbus  ;  in  theology, 
Luther;  in  astronomy,  Galileo;  in  government,  Hampden 
and  Washington;  in  religion,  that  strange  divine  Man  of 
Galilee,  gentlest  and  tenderest,  most  heroic  and  most  inde- 
pendent of  those  who  have  walked  upon  earth.  Is  there 
need  of  this  quality  of  independence  now  ?  Always,  every- 
where there  is  need  of  it.  The  earth's  prayer  well  might 
be  :  "  God,  give  us  independent  men."  Never  was  there 
greater  need  of  it  than  now.  In  our  cities  corruption  enters 
into  league  with  vice,  takes  with  equal  facility  the  name  of 
either  of  the  great  parties,  and  boldly  essays  to  rule.  A 
race  problem  of  appalling  magnitude  hangs  over  one  section 
of  our  country,  and  beclouds  the  judgment  of  the  other  sec- 
tions. Stupendous  combinations  of  capital,  vast  armies  of 
laborers,  moved,  marshalled,  and  directed  like  troops  in  the 
field,  reverse  old  economic  laws,  present  new  and  strange 
problems  in  our  polity,  and  seem  equally  to  threaten  the 
rights  and  independence  of  the  individual  man.  In  our 
social  life  still  goes  on  the  world-old  struggle  between  the 
material  and  the  spiritual  elements  of  our  existence.  Still  is 
felt  the  invitation  and  the  strong  temptation,  still  is  seen  the 
fierce  endeavor  to  put  matter  above  mind,  money  above  man- 
hood, social  position  above  social  virtues,  gain  above  knowl- 
edge, gold  above  God. 

Let  us,  then,  my  friends,  students  of  the  University,  on 
each  recurring  anniversary  of  this  day,  here  in  this  Univer- 
sity of  Texas,  whose  site  was  dedicated  by  the  founders  of 
the  republic,  and  whose  muniments  of  title  are  such  act  of 
dedication,  —  the  declaration  of  independence  this  day  read, 
and  the  result  at  San  Jaointo, — let  us  in  this  Un: varsity 
strike  hands  with  the  ancient  and  goodly  fellowship  of  Uni- 


226  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

versity  men  of  all  time :  with  Stephen  Langton,  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Paris,  and  leader  in  the  movement  which 
wrung  from  John  the  Great  Charter  whose  guaranties  still 
are  vital  in  all  our  institutions,  and  whose  phrases  still  ring 
in  the  ears  of  freemen  like  the  marching  of  armed  men  to 
battle ;  with  Hampden,  son  of  Oxford,  who  gave  his  life  to 
save  the  liberties  which  the  Great  Charter  granted;  with 
John  Hancock  and  his  majority  of  University  men  who 
signed  our  American  declaration  of  independence;  with 
Rusk  and  his  majority  of  college  men  who  put  their  names 
to  the  declaration  read  to-day — let  us  strike  hands  with 
them  and  pledge  ourselves,  as  University  men  and  Texans, 
to  love  the  truth  and  seek  it,  to  learn  the  right  and  do  it, 
and,  in  all  emergencies,  however  wealth  may  tempt  or  pop- 
ular applause  allure,  to  be  sole  rulers  of  our  own  free  speech, 
masters  of  our  own  untrammelled  thoughts,  captains  of  our 
own  unfettered  souls. 

In  this  spirit,  to  these  ends,  may  we  worthily  celebrate 
this  day. 


SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  THE  OLD  SOUTH. 

THOMAS    NELSON    PAGE. 

Truly  it  was  a  charming  life,  the  social  life  in  the  Old  South. 
There  was  a  vast  waste ;  but  it  was  not  loss.  Every  one  had 
food,  every  one  had  raiment,  every  one  had  peace.  There 
was  not  wealth  in  the  base  sense  in  which  we  know  it  and 
strive  for  it  and  trample  down  others  for  it  now.  But  there 
was  wealth  in  the  good  old  sense »in  which  the  litany  of  our 
fathers  used  it.  There  was  weal.  There  was  the  best  of 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  227 

all  wealth :  there  was  content,  and  "  a  quiet  mind  is  richer 
than  a  crown." 

We  have  gained  something  by  the  change.  The  South 
under  her  new  conditions  will  grow  rich,  will  wax  fat; 
nevertheless  we  have  lost  much.  How  much  only  those 
who  knew  it  can  estimate;  to  them  it  was  inestimable. 

That  the  social  life  of  the  Old  South  had  its  faults,  I  am 
far  from  denying.  What  civilization  has  not?  But  its 
virtues  far  outweighed  them ;  its  graces  were  never  equalled. 
For  all  its  faults,  it  was,  I  believe,  the  purest,  sweetest  life 
ever  lived.  It  has  been  claimed  that  it  was  non-productive, 
that  it  fostered  sterility.  Only  ignorance  or  folly  could 
imike  the  assertion.  It  largely  contributed  to  produce  this 
nation  ;  it  led  its  armies  and  its  navies ;  it  established  this 
government  so  firmly  that  not  even  it  could  overthrow  it ;  it 
opened  up  the  great  West ;  it  added  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
and  more  than  trebled  our  territory;  it  Christianized  the 
negro  race  in  a  little  over  two  centuries,  impressed  upon  it 
regard  for  order,  and  gave  it  the  only  civilization  it  has  ever 
possessed  since  the  dawn  of  history.  It  has  maintained  the 
supremacy  of  the  Caucasian  race,  upon  which  all  civilization 
seems  now  to  depend.  It  produced  a  people  whose  heroic 
fight  against  the  forces  of  the  world  has  enriched  the  annals 
of  the  human  race  — a  people  whose  fortitude  in  defeat  has 
been  even  more  splendid  than  their  valor  in  war.  It  made 
men  noble,  gentle,  and  brave,  and  women  tender,  and  pure, 
and  true.  It  may  have  fallen  short  in  material  develop- 
ment in  its  narrower  sense,  but  it  abounded  in  spiritual  de- 
velopment ;  it  made  the  domestic  virtues  as  common  as  light 
and  air,  and  filled  homes  with  purity  and  peace. 

It  has  passed  from  the  earth,  but  it  has  left  its  benignant 


228  PUBLIC  SPEAKI\<:. 

influence  behind  it  to  sweeten  and  sustain  its  children.  The 
ivory  palaces  have  been  destroyed,  but  myrrh.  ;il<>cs.  ;unl 
cassia  still  breathe  amid  their  dismantled  ruins. 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION. 

THOMAS    NELSON    PACK. 

Professor  James  Bryce,  in  a  recent  paper  on  the  negro 
question,  arrives  at  the  only  reasonable  conclusion :  that  the 
negro  be  let  alone  and  the  solution  of  the  problem  be  left  to 
the  course  of  events.  Friendship  for  the  negro  demands 
this.  It  has  become  the  fashion  of  late  for  certain  negro 
leaders  to  talk,  in  conventions  held  outside  of  the  South,  of 
fighting  for  their  rights.  For  their  own  sake  and  that  of 
their  race,  let  them  take  it  out  in  talking.  A  single  outbreak 
would  settle  the  question.  To  us  of  the  South  it  appears 
that  a  proper  race  pride  is  one  of  the  strongest  securities  of 
our  nation.  No  people  can  become  great  without  it.  With- 
out it  no  people  can  remain  great.  We  propose  to  stand 
upon  it. 

Meantime,  the  negro  is  here,  and  something  must  be  done. 
In  the  first  place,  let  us  have  all  the  light  that  can  be  thrown 
on  the  subject.  Form  an  organization  to  consider  and  deal 
with  the  subject,  not  in  the  spirit  of  narrowness  or  temper, 
but  in  the  spirit  of  philosophic  deliberation,  such  as  becomes 
a  great  people  discussing  a  great  question  which  concerns 
not  only  their  present  but  their  future  position  among  the 
nations.  We  shall  then  get  at  the  right  of  the  matter. 

Let  us  do  our  utmost  to  eliminate  from  the  question  the 
complication  of  its  political  features.  Get  politics  out  of  it, 


SELECTIONS  FOR   PRACTICE.  229 

and  the  problem  will  be  more  than  half  solved.  Senator 
Hampton  stated  not  long  ago,  in  a  paper  contributed  by  him, 
I  think,  to  the  North  American  Review,  that,  to  get  the  negro 
out  of  politics,  he  would  gladly  give  up  the  representation 
based  on  his  vote.  Could  anything  throw  a  stronger  light 
on  the  apprehension  with  which  the  negro  in  politics  is 
regarded  at  the  South  ? 

There  never  was  any  question  more  befogged  with  dema- 
gogism  than  that  of  manhood  suffrage.  Let  us  apply  our- 
selves to  securing  some  more  reasonable  and  better  basis  for 
the  suffrage.  Let  us  establish  such  a  proper  qualification  as 
a  condition  to  the  possession  of  the  elective  franchise  as 
shall  leave  the  ballot  only  to  those  who  have  intelligence 
enough  to  use  it  as  an  instrument  to  secure  good  government 
rather  than  to  destroy  it.  In  taking  this  step  we  have  to 
plant  ourselves  on  a  broader  principle  than  that  of  a  race 
qualification.  It  is  not  merely  the  negro,  it  is  ignorance  and 
venality  which  we  want  to  disfranchise.  If  we  can  dis- 
franchise these,  we  need  not  fear  the  voter,  whatever  the 
color.  At  present  it  is  not  the  negro  who  is  disfranchised, 
but  the  white.  We  dare  not  divide. 

Having  limited  him  in  a  franchise  which  he  has  not  in 
a  generation  learned  to  use,  continue  to  teach  him.  It  is 
from  the  educated  negro,  that  is,  the  negro  who  is  more  en- 
lightened than  the  general  body  of  his  race,  that  order  must 
come.  The  ignorance,  venality,  and  superstition  of  the 
average  negro  are  dangerous  to  us.  Education  will  divide 
them  and  will  uplift  them.  They  may  learn  in  time  that  if 
they  wish  to  rise,  they  must  look  to  the  essential  qualities 
of  good  citizenship.  In  this  way  alone  can  the  race,  or  any 
part  of  the  race,  look  for  ultimate  salvation. 


230  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

It  has  appeared  to  some  that  the  South  has  not  done  its 
full  duty  by  the  negro.  Perfection  is,  without  doubt,  a 
standard  above  humanity ;  but,  at  least,  we  of  the  South  can 
say  that  we  have  done  much  for  him ;  if  we  have  not  ad- 
mitted him  to  social  equality,  it  has  been  under  an  instinct 
stronger  than  reason,  and  in  obedience  to  a  law  higher  than 
is  on  the  statute-books :  the  law  of  self-preservation.  Sla- 
very, whatever  its  demerits,  was  not  in  its  time  the  unmiti- 
gated evil  it  is  fancied  to  have  been.  Its  time  has  passed. 
No  power  could  compel  the  South  to  have  it  back.  But  to 
the  negro  it  was  salvation.  It  found  him  a  savage  and  a 
cannibal,  and  in  two  hundred  years  gave  seven  millions  of 
his  race  a  civilization,  the  only  civilization  it  has  had  since 
the  dawn  of  history. 

We  have  educated  him ;  we  have  aided  him ;  we  have  sus- 
tained him  in  all  right  directions.  We  are  ready  to  continue 
our  aid;  but  we  will  not  be  dominated  by  him.  When  we 
shall  be,  it  is  our  settled  conviction  that  we  shall  deserve 
the  degradation  into  which  we  shall  have  sunk. 


WEBSTER  AS  AN  ORATOR. 

HENRY   CABOT   LODGE. 

Extract  from  an  address  delivered  in   Washington,  January  18, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  unveiling  of  a  statue  of  Daniel  Webster. 

Eminent  as  a  legislator,  still  more  distinguished  as  a  law- 
yer, Daniel  Webster  was  supreme  as  an  orator.  There  was 
no  need  for  him  to  put  pebbles  in  his  mouth  to  cure  stam- 
mering, or  to  rehearse  his  speeches  on  the  seashore  in  con- 
flict with  the  noise  of  the  waves.  He  had  from  the  hand  of 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  231 

nature  all  the  graces  of  person  and  presence,  of  voice  and 
delivery,  which  the  most  exacting  critic  could  demand,  and 
these  natural  gifts  were  trained,  enhanced,  and  perfected  by 
years  of  practice  in  the  senate,  the  court  room,  and  before 
the  people.  In  what  he  said  he  always  had  distinction  — 
rarest  of  qualities  —  and  he  had  also  the  great  manner, -just 
as  Milton  has  it  in  verse.  To  lucid  statement,  to  that  sim- 
plicity in  discussion  which  modern  times  demand  for  prac- 
tical questions,  to  nervous  force,  he  added,  at  his  best, 
wealth  of  imagery,  richness  of  diction,  humor,  and  pathos, 
all  combined  with  the  power  of  soaring  on  easy  wing  to  the 
loftiest  flights  of  eloquence.  Above  all,  he  had  that  high 
and  excellent  seriousness  which  Aristotle  sets  down  as  one 
of  the  supreme  virtues  of  poetry,  and  without  which  neither 
oratory  nor  poetry  can  attain  supremacy. 

It  was  not  merely  that  as  a  statesman  he  saw  the  misery 
and  degradation  which  would  come  from  the  breaking  of  the 
I'n  ion  as  well  as  the  progressive  disintegration  which  was 
sure  to  follow,  but  the  very  thought  of  it  came  home  to  him 
with  the  sharpness  of  a  personal  grief  which  was  almost 
agonizing.  When,  in  the  seventh  of  March  speech,  he  cried 
out,  "  What  states  are  to  secede  ?  What  is  to  remain 
American  ?  What  am  I  to  be  ? "  a  political  opponent 
said  the  tone  of  the  last  question  made  him  shudder  as  if 
some  dire  calamity  was  at  hand.  The  greatness  of  the 
United  States  rilled  his  mind.  He  had  not  the  length  of 
days  accorded  to  Lord  Bathhurst,  but  the  angel  of  dreams 
had  unrolled  to  him  the  future,  and  the  vision  was  ever 
before  his  eyes. 

This  passionate  love  of  his  country,  this  dream  of  her 
future,  inspired  his  greatest  efforts^  were  even  the  chief 


232  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

cause  at  the  end  of  his  life  of  his  readiness  to  make  sacri- 
fices of  principle  which  would  only  have  helped  forward 
what  he  dreaded  most,  but  which  he  believed  would  save 
that  for  which  he  cared  most  deeply,  j  In  a  period  when 
great  forces  were  at  work,  which  in  their  inevitable  conflict 
threatened  the  existence  of  the  union  of  the  states,  Webster 
stands  out  above  all  others  as  the  champion,  as  the  very 
embodiment,  of  the  national  life  and  the  national  faith.  / 
.Mere  than  any  other  man  of  that  time  he  called  forth  the 
sentiment  more  potent  than  all  reasonings  which  saved 
the  nation.  It  was  a  great  work,  greatly  done,  with  all  the 
resources  of  a  powerful  intellect  and  with  an  eloquence 
rarely  heard  among  men.  We  may  put  aside  all  his  other 
achievements,  all  his  other  claims  to  remembrance,  and  in- 
scribe alone  upon  the  base  of  his  statue  the  words  uttered 
in  the  senate,  "  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one 
and  inseparable."  That  single  sentence  recalls  all  the 
noble  speeches  which  breathed  only  the  greatness  of  the 
country  and  the  prophetic  vision  which  looked  with  undaz- 
zled  gaze  into  a  still  greater  future.  No  other  words  are 
wanted  for  a  man  who  so  represented  and  so  expressed  the 
faith  and  hopes  of  a  nation.  His  statue  needs  no  other 
explanation  so  long  as  the  nation  he  served  and  the  Union 
he  loved  shall  last. 


SELECTIONS  FOB  PRACTICE.  238 

DEMOCRACY  AND  EDUCATION. 

NICHOLAS    MURRAY    BUTLER. 

From  an  address  delivered  before  the  National  Educational  Associa- 
tion, at  Buffalo,  N.  T.,  July  7,  1896. 

The  public  education  of  a  great  democratic  people  has 
other  aims  to  fulfil  than  the  extension  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge or  the  development  of  literary  culture.  It  must  pre- 
pare for  intelligent  citizenship.  More  than  a  century  ago, 
I'.urke  wrote  that  "the  generality  of  people  are  fifty  years, 
at  least,  behindhand  in  their  politics.  There  are  but  very 
few  who  are  capable  of  comparing  and  digesting  what 
passes  before  their  eyes  at  different  times  and  occasions,  so 
as  to  form  the  whole  into  a  distinct  system."  This  is  the 
warning  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  publicists,  that  a  thoroughly 
instructed  and  competent  public  opinion  on  political  mat- 
ters is  difficult  to  attain.  Yet,  unless  we  are  to  surrender 
the  very  principle  on  which  democracy  rests,  we  must 
struggle  to  attain  it.  Something  may  be  accomplished  by 
precept,  something  by  direct  instruction,  much  by  example. 
The  words  "politics"  and  "politician"  must  be  rescued 
from  the  low  esteem  into  which  they  have  fallen,  and 
restored  to  their  ancient  and  honorable  meaning.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  never  foresaw 
that  the  time  would  come  when  thousands  of  intelligent 
men  and  women  would  regard  "politics"  as  beneath  them, 
and  when  a  cynical  unwillingness  to  participate  in  the 
choice  of  persons  and  policies  would  develop  among  the 
people. 

The   difficulties   of   democracy  are  the   opportunities  of 


PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

education.  If  our  education  be  sound,  if  it  lay  due  em- 
phasis on  individual  responsibility  for  social  and  political 
progress,  if  it  counteract  the  anarchistic  tendencies  that 
grow  out  of  selfishness  and  greed,  if  it  promote  a  patriotism 
that  reaches  farther  than  militant  jingoism  and  gunboats, 
then  we  may  cease  to  have  any  doubts  as  to  the  perpetuity 
and  integrity  of  our  institutions.  But  I  am  profoundly 
convinced  that  the  greatest  educational  need  of  our  time, 
in  higher  and  lower  schools  alike,  is  a  fuller  appreciation 
on  the  part  of  the  teachers  of  what  human  institutions 
really  mean  and  what  tremendous  moral  issues  and  princi- 
ples they  involve.  The  ethics  of  individual  life  must  be 
traced  to  its  roots  in  the  ethics  of  the  social  whole.  The 
family,  property,  the  common  law,  the  state,  and  the  church 
are  all  involved.  These,  and  their  products,  taken  to- 
gether, constitute  civilization  and  mark  it  off  from  barba- 
rism. Inheritor  of  a  glorious  past,  each  generation  is  a 
trustee  for  posterity.  To  preserve,  protect,  and  transmit 
its  inheritance  unimpaired  is  its  highest  duty.  To  accom- 
plish this  is  not  the  task  of  a  few,  but  the  duty  of  all. 

That  democracy  alone  will  be  triumphant  which  has  both 
intelligence  and  character.  To  develop  them  among  the 
whole  people  is  the  task  of  education  in  a  democracy.  V. 
then,  by  vainglorious  boasting,  not  by  self-satisfied  indiffer- 
ence, not  by  selfish  and  indolent  withdrawal  from  participa- 
tion in  the  interests  and  government  of  the  community,  but 
rather  by  the  enthusiasm,  born  of  intense  conviction,  that 
finds  the  happiness  of  each  in  the  good  of  all,  will  our  edu- 
cational ideals  be  satisfied  and  our  free  government  be  placed 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  forces  of  dissolution  and  decay. 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  235 

WEALTH   AND   DEMOCRACY. 

LYMAN   ABBOTT. 

Despite  the  fact  that  wealth  has  never  been  so  diffused,  and 
the  comforts  wealth  brings  never  so  broadcast,  as  in  America 
to-day,  the  thoughtful  student  of  our  national  life  must  cer- 
tainly recognize  that  the  concentration  of  wealth  is  America's 
greatest  peril,  and  a  more  equable  distribution  of  wealth  its 
greatest  need.  That  cannot  be  counted  either  a  Christian  or 
a  democratic  state  of  society  in  which  one  per  cent  of  the 
people  own  one-half  of  all  the  wealth,  and  the  other  half  is 
very  unequally  distributed  among  the  other  ninety-nine  per 
cent  of  owners,  —  in  which  there  are  a  few  millionnaires  at 
one  pole  of  society  who  cannot  possibly  spend  their  income, 
and  many  men  and  women  at  the  other  pole  of  society  who 
have  little  or  no  income  to  spend.  If  Adam  were  created 
six  thousand  years  ago,  had  lived  until  this  time,  and  had 
succeeded  in  laying  up  one  hundred  dollars  a  day  for  every 
working  day  of  the  six  thousand  years  of  his  life,  he  would 
not,  without  interest,  have  made  as  much  money  in  six 
thousand  years  as  the  elder  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  is  said  to 
have  made  in  a  lifetime.  Jay  Gould  started  in  life  with 
a  mouse-trap ;  at  the  end  of  twenty-five  years  he  unrolled 
certificates  to  the  amount  of  a  hundred  million  dollars.  He 
made  four  million  dollars  on  the  average  each  year,  that  is 
to  say,  if  we  count  three  hundred  days  to  the  year,  over 
thirteen  thousand  dollars  a  day ;  and  the  statisticians  tell 
us  that  the  average  wages  of  unskilled  labor  in  this  country 
is  less  than  one  dollar  a  day,  and  of  skilled  working  men 
not  over  four  dollars  a  day  as  a  maximum.  In  view  of 


236  PUBLIC  SPEAKI.\<;. 

such  inequalities  as  this,  one  need  not  be  radical  to  believe 
with  James  Russell  Lowell  in  "giving  to  the  hands,  not  so 
large  a  share  as  to  the  brain,  but  a  larger  share  than  hitherto 
in  the  wealth  they  must  combine  to  produce." 

The  economic  problem  of  our  age  is  how  to  secure  the  bene- 
fits of  organization  in  producing  wealth  without  incurring  the 
evils  of  concentration  in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  it. 
This  is  certainly  not  to  be  promoted  by  a  blind  distribution 
of  the  acquisitions  of  one  class  among  the  insatiable  of  an- 
other; nor  by  laws  limiting  the  products  of  industry,  or 
denying  to  the  industrious  the  rewards  of  their  toil.  But 
there  are  other  methods  open  to  the  consideration  of  the 
American  student.  He  will  remember  that  unjust  systems 
of  taxation  have  favored  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many, 
and  lie  will  question  whether  we  have  yet  found  a  system  of 
taxation  absolutely  just  and  equal.  He  will  remember  that  in 
America,  by  our  abolition  of  the  right  of  primogeniture,  we 
have  limited  the  power  of  the  "  dead  hand  "  ;  and  he  will 
question  whether  we  may  not  still  further  limit  the  right  of 
men  whose  wealth  has  been  largely  dependent  upon  the  com- 
munity, to  control  absolutely  the  disposition  of  that  wealth 
in  the  community  after  they  are  dead.  He  will  see  that  leg- 
islation has  operated  to  discourage  gambling  and  encourage 
productive  industry,  and  he  will  ask  whether  further  legisla- 
tion in  the  same  direction  may  not  be  both  wise  and  desir- 
able. He  will  remember  that  war  has  always  cast  its  heavi.->t 
burdens  on  the  poor,  and  he  will  question  whether  some  inmv 
economical  method  of  solving  international  difficulties  can- 
not be  discovered  than  the  expensive  and  inefficient  method 
of  brute  force.  He  will  remember  that,  partly  due  to  legis- 
lative influences,  partly  to  influences  purely  social  and  in- 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  237 

dustrial,  the  interest  on  capital  has  diminished  and  the 
wages  of  labor  have  increased,  and  he  will  ask  himself  the 
question  whether  this  method  of  equalization  of  profits  has 
reached  its  consummation.  In  short,  he  will  believe  that, 
as  the  effect  of  Christianity  has  been  the  diffusion  of  religious 
and  intellectual  life  and  of  political  power,  so  it  has  been, 
and  is  yet  to  be,  the  diffusion  of  wealth  and  its  attendant 
comforts;  and  he  will  not  be  afraid  to  ask  himself  what 
can  be  done  to  promote  still  further  that  progress  toward 
popular  prosperity  which  Christ  both  promised  and  prophe- 
sied in  His  sermon  at  Nazareth. 

For  that  this  democratizing  process  is  a  distinctive  charac- 
teristic of  modern  life  can  hardly  be  doubted.  Art  has  never 
surjr.issed  that  of  Phidias,  but  modern  inventions  put  beauty 
into  the  homes  of  the  humblest  working-man.  We  still  go 
back  to  Homer  and  to  Aeschylus  for  literature,  but  the  print- 
ing-press and  the  common  school  put  the  best  literature 
within  the  reach  of  the  poorer  people.  Modern  education  is 
universal.  Temples  do  not  outshine  those  of  Jerusalem, 
Ephesus,  Rome,  but  there  is  a  church  in  every  village. 
There  are  no  saints  who  in  spiritual  vision  and  consecrated 
life  transcend  the  Apostle  Paul,  but  into  the  slums  of  every 
modern  city  apostles  with  the  Pauline  spirit  are  carrying  the 
message  of  God's  love  for  man  and  of  man's  love  for  his  fel- 
low-men. The  process  begun  in  Galilee,  however,  is  not  yet 
completed,  and  will  not  be  until  political  economy  learns  and 
teaches  the  doctrine  of  distribution  as  well  as  of  accumula- 
tion ;  until  fools  cease  to  hoard  and  wise  men  learn  to  scat- 
ter ;  until  every  "  boss  "  is  dismissed,  and  every  ring  broken ; 
until  our  systems  of  public  education  recognize  the  truth 
that  to  think  is  more  than  to  know,  and  to  be  is  more  than  to 


238  Pl'HLIC  SPE.\KL\<,. 

think ;  until,  in  the  words  of  the  ancient  prophet,  "  every 
valley  is  filled,  and  every  mountain  is  brought  low." 


GOVERNMENT  BY  PUBLIC   OPINION. 

ARTHUR    TWINING    HADLEY. 

Kstrnrt  from  an  address  delivered  at  the  Charter  Day  Efcrciscs  »f  the 
University  of  California,  March  23,  1901. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  what  constitutes  the  essen- 
tial mark  of  a  gentleman,  as  distinct  from  the  accidents  of 
birth  and  of  clothes,  of  manners  and  of  speech.  I  believe 
it  is  to  be  found  in  the  readiness  to  accept  trusts,  even 
when  they  are  personally  disadvantageous,  —  the  readiness 
to  subordinate  a  man's  own  convenience  and  desires  to  a 
social  code.  The  code  may  be  a  good  one  or  a  bad  one ; 
but  it  is  an  authority  which  the  gentleman  accepts  of  his 
own  free  will,  without  waiting  for  any  one  to  compel  him 
to  accept  it.  To  the  extent  that  he  does  this,  he  not  only 
proves  himself  a  gentleman,  but  proves  himself  capable  of 
self-government.  In  this  sense  I  believe  that  the  great 
body  of  the  American  people  are  gentlemen ;  and  that  this  is 
the  best  guarantee  for  the  permanence  of  our  system  of  self- 
government  amid  the  increasing  difficulties  with  which  it  has 
to  deal.  There  is  much  which  is  as  yet  defective  in  our  com- 
mercial and  political  code  of  honor.  But  the  fundamental 
fault  is  in  the  code  and  not  in  the  man ;  and  therefore  the 
task  of  the  reformer  is  no  insuperable  one. 

The  thing  that  makes  democracy  practicable  is  a  willing- 
ness, on  the  part  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  to  submit  to 
self-imposed  authority  without  waiting  for  the  policeman 


SELECTIONS  FOB    PRACTICE.  239 

to  enforce  it.  The  cause  of  democracy  was  the  distribu- 
tion of  fighting  power,  which  formerly  had  been  confined 
to  one  class.  The  possibility  of  maintaining  democracy 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  readiness  to  accept  self- 
imposed  burdens  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with  the  distri- 
bution of  power.  The  danger  of  democracy  lies  in  the 
adoption  of  a  false  code  of  honor,  which  tolerates  and 
approves  the  pursuit  of  self-interest  in  lines  where  it  must 
prove  ultimately  destructive  to  the  community.  If  our  men 
of  influence  can  see  these  dangers  in  time  to  submit  to  self- 
imposed  restrictions,  they  can  preserve  their  freedom  from 
legislative  interference,  and  our  republic  can  remain  as  it 
now  is,  a  self-governing  body.  If  they  do  not  see  it  in 
time,  the  demands  for  the  extension  of  legislative  machinery 
and  police  activity  will  so  far  restrict  our  personal  liberty 
that  democratic  freedom  will  exist  only  in  name,  and  we 
shall  have  a  social  order  where  the  form  of  an  occasional 
election  is  but  a  decent  veil  to  disguise  struggles  for  the 
tyranny  of  one  class  over  another. 

It  is  for  the  young  men  who  are  coming  on  the  field  of 
political  life  to-day  to  guard  against  this  danger.  Our  col- 
lege students  have  lived  in  communities  which  have  their 
historic  traditions  and  their  collective  aspirations  ;  each  of 
which  is  in  a  true  sense  a  body  politic,  with  its  public 
spirit  and  its  public  sentiment.  It  is  for  them  to  carry  into 
the  larger  world  of  business  and  of  legislation  the  spirit 
which  will  subordinate  personal  convenience  to  collective 
honor.  Let  them  cease  to  appeal  exclusively  to  self-inter- 
est, either  in  their  own  judgment  or  in  the  judgment  of 
others.  For  a  political  leader  who  has  not  only  fixed 
standards  of  right,  but  a  belief  in  the  capacity  of  the  people 


240  PUBLIC   >•/•/•:. I  A' ING. 

to  accept  those  standards,  the  times  are  always 
Calhoun  and  Clay  and  Webster  and  Lincoln  differed  in 
their  judgments  and  in  their  conclusions.  But  it  was  char- 
acteristic of  them  all  that  they  made  their  final  appeal,  not 
to  the  narrow  interests  of  any  class,  but  to  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  broad  principles  of  public  opinion  and  public 
morality.  It  was  in  the  spirit  of  these  men  that  our  repub- 
lic gained  its  growth  during  the  century  that  is  past :  it  is 
for  us,  their  sons,  to  see  that  the  same  spirit  is  applied  to 
the  yet  larger  problems  of  the  century  which  is  to  come. 


THE  LAW  OF  SERVICE. 

I.YMAN    ABBOTT. 

There  are  a  variety  of  ways  in  which  men  add  to  the 
world's  wealth,  —  that  is,  to  its  life,  physical,  intellectual, 
moral.  In  the  natural  order,  the  first  thing  is  to  get  out  of 
the  earth  what  the  earth  contains  for  the  service  of  man. 
This  is  the  work  of  the  agriculturist,  the  miner,  the  lumber- 
man. These  men  are  making  available  to  the  community 
the  reservoired  resources  of  the  globe.  But  one  cannot  ad- 
vantag^ously  eat  raw  wjjeat,  nor  live  in  trees,  nor  use  iron 
(in  the  ore)  for  tools,  nor  comfortably  wear  the  skins  of  ani- 
mals. The  wheat  must  be  turned  into  bread,  the  trees 
builded  into  houses,  the  iron  fashioned  into  tools,  the  wool 
spun  and^woven  into  garments.  Thus  the  second  thing  is 
to  turn  what  the  earth  gives  us  into  forms  useful  for  our  ser- 
vice. This  is  a  mechanic  art.  In  one  region  there  is  plenty 
of  food,  in  another  none ;  in  one,  forest,  in  another  timber- 
less  plains  and  valleys ;  in  one  the  iron  mine,  in  another  the 


SELECTIONS   FOR   PRACTICE.  241 

millstream  or  the  coal  which  furnishes  power  for  the  fac- 
tory. The  food  must  be  transported  from  the  Western  prai- 
rie to  the  Eastern  city ;  the  timber  from  the  Michigan  forest 
to  the  Illinois  farm;  the  iron  or  copper  from  the  shores 
of  Lake  Superior  to  the  furnaces  of  Pennsylvania.  Thus 
comes  into  play  the  JJijrd  great  service  to  the  community,— 
transportation.  China  and  India  suffer  great  famines, — 
unknown  in  America,  —  chiefly  because  they  are  not  equipped 
with  great  railroad  corporations  to  carry  supplies  from  the 
regions  where  food  is  abundant  to  the  regions  wjhich  are 
famine-stricken.  When  these  supplies  are  brought  to  the 
communities  who  need  them,  there  must  be  individuals  to 
carry  this  work  of  distribution  further.  These  are  called 
middlemen.  It  is  ponular  in  certain  quarters  to  condemn 
the  middlemen,  but  they  are  essential  to  public  well-being. 
^TTfiodern  waterworks  gather  the  water  into  reservoirs, 
send  'it  by  means  of  great  mains  throughout  the  city,  from 
which  again  it  is  distributed  in  smaller  and  still  smaller 
pipes,  until  it  reaches  the  rooms  in  the  private  houses,  where 
it  can  be  drawn  by  opening  a  faucet,  so  commerce  takes  na- 
t^u-e's  supplies,  carries  them  to  great  centres  of  population, 
where  retail  trade  takes  them  up,  distributing  them  to  indi- 
vidual households.  The  middleman  is  the  faucet,  without 
which  the  water  would  never  be  available  in  the  home. 

We  have,  however,  other  needs  than  material  ones.  Men 
will  sicken,  there  must  be  skilled  physicians ;  men  will  not 
understand  their  right  relations  to  one  another,  there  must 
be  lawyers  to  counsel  them ;  there  are  criminals,  and  there 
must  be  governors,  soldiers,  policemen,  to  protect.  There 
must  be  teachers  to  instruct,  preachers  and  poets  to  in- 
spire, artists  and  authors  and  musicians  to  minister  to  the 


242  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

ji-stlietic  and  literary  taste.  There  will  be  homes,  and  there 
must  be  wives  and  mothers  who  are  not  turning  the  spin- 
ning-wheel, nor  driving  the  loom,  nor  ploughing  the  field, 
nor  adding  to  the  material  wealth  by  their  industry,  but  who 
are  adding  to  spiritual  wealth  by  their  patience,  their  fidel- 
ity, and  their  love.  In  all  this  work,  hand  and  brain  must 
cooperate.  Labor  is  not  all  hand  labor.  An  American 
humorist  has  said,  with  great  truth,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy 
brow  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  but  some  men  sweat  outside  and 
some  men  inside."  The  brain  has  need  of  the  hand,  and  the 
hand  of  the  brain.  Both  are  entitled  to  their  share  of  the 
world's  products,  but  this  one  fundamental  truth  remains: 
the  world  has  just  so  much  as  we  put  into  it;  no  more.  If 
we  do  not  by  our  consecrated  use  of  hand,  or  head,  or  heart, 
by  our  personal  activity  or  our  wise  direction  of  the  activity 
of  others,  by  our  serving  or  by  our  suffering,  endeavor  t«> 
add  to  the  world's  wealth  —  material,  intellectual,  or  spirit- 
ual—  at  least  as  much  as  we  have  taken  out  of  it,  we  belong 
in  the  category  of  the  beggars,  the  thieves,  and  the  gamblers. 
The  first  principle,  then,  is  respect  for  labor  and  respect 
for  each  other's  labor ;  respect  by  the  man  who  works  with 
his  brain, for  the  man  who  works  with  his  hand,  and  re- 
spect by  the  man  who  works  with  his  hand  for  the  man 
who  works  with  his  brain  — njutu^al  respect.  When  we  ha've 
thoroughly  learned  this  one  fundamental  principle,  that  to 
destroy  is  not  honorable  and  to  produce  is,  that  the  glory  of 
the  nation  lies  in  it?productioii,  that  the  glory  of  life  lies  in 
adding  to  the  wealth  of  life  —  its  material,  its  intellectual, 
its  spiritual  wealth,  —  we  shall  have  learned  one  great  un- 
derlying lesson.  Until  we  have  learned  this,  all  other  learn- 
ing is  in  vain,  for  this  is  the  foundation.  The  greatest  of 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  243 

all  is  the  servant  of  all.  We  believe  this  in  the  church  :  the 
minister  is  the  servant  of  the  congregation.  We  believe  it 
in  politics :  the  President  is  the  servant  of  the  people.  We 
shall  not  get  to  the  Christian  basis  of  industry  until  we  come 
to  recognize  in  industry,  also,  that  there  is  no  independence, 
and  that  the  greatest,  and  the  richest,  and  the  strongest,  is 
great  only  as  he  is  the  servant  of  the  weak  and  poor. 


JOHN  MARSHALL. 

HENRY    CABOT   LODGE. 

From  an  address  delivered  before  the  Bar  Associations  of  Illinois  and 
Chicago,  February  4->  1901. 

The  monumental  decisions  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
handed  down  during  thirty-five  years  of  judicial  life,  are 
more  than  a  monument  of  legal  reasoning,  more  than  a 
masterly  exposition  of  the  Constitution,  for  they  embody 
the  well-considered  policy  of  a  great  statesman.  They  are 
the  work  of  a  man  who  saw  that  the  future  of  the  United 
States  hinged  upon  the  one  question  whether  the  national 
should  prevail  over  the  separatist  principle,  whether  the 
nation  was  to  be  predominant  over  the  states  —  whether, 
indeed,  there  was  to  be  a  nation  at  all.  Through  all  the 
issues  which  rose  and  fell  during  these  thirty-five  years, 
through  all  the  excitements  of  the  passing  day,  through 
Louisiana  acquisitions  and  the  relations  with  France  and 
England,  through  embargoes  and  war  and  Missouri  com- 
promises, and  all  the  bitter,  absorbing  passions  which  they 
aroused,  the  Chief  Justice  in  his  court  went  steadily  for- 
ward dealing  with  that  one  underlying  question  beside 


244  mil. ic  •>/•/•;. i /V'/.Y', 

which  all  others  were  insignificant.  Slowly  hut  surely  he 
did  his  work.  He  made  men  understand  that  a  tribunal 
existed  before  which  states  could  be  forced  to  plead,  by 
which  state  laws  could  be  annulled,  and  which  was  created 
by  the  Constitution.  He  took  the  dry  clauses  of  that  Con- 
stitution and  breathed  into  them  the  breath  of  life.  Know- 
ing well  the  instinct  of  human  nature  to  magnify  its  own 
possessions,  —  an  instinct  more  potent  than  party  feeling, — 
he  had  pointed  out  and  developed  for  presidents  and  con- 
gresses the  powers  given  them  by  the  Constitution  from 
which  they  derived  their  own  existence.  Whether  these 
presidents  and  congresses  were  Federalist  or  Democratic, 
they  were  all  human  and  would  be  certain,  therefore,  to  use 
sooner  or  later  the  powers  disclosed  to  them.  That  which 
Hamilton,  in  the  bitterness  of  defeat,  had  called  "a  frail 
and  worthless  fabric,"  Marshall  converted  into  a  mighty  in- 
strument of  government.  The  Constitution,  which  began 
as  an  agreement  between  conflicting  states,  Marshall,  con- 
tinuing the  work  of  Washington  and  Hamilton,  transformed 
into  a  charter  of  national  life.  When  his  own  life  closed 
his  work  was  done  —  a  nation  had  been  made.  Before  he 
died  he  heard  this  great  fact  declared  with  unrivalled 
eloquence  by  Webster.  It  was  reserved  to  another  genera- 
tion to  put  Marshall's  work  to  the  last  and  awful  test  of 
war,  and  to  behold  it  come  forth  from  that  dark  ordeal, 
triumphant  and  supreme. 

What  of  the  man  who  did  all  this  ?  The  statesman  we 
know,  the  great  lawyer,  the  profound  jurist,  the  original 
thinker,  the  unrivalled  reasoner.  All  this  is  there  in  his 
decisions  and  in  his  public  life,  carved  deep  in  the  history 
of  the  times.  But  of  the  man  himself  we  know  little;  in 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  245 

proportion  to  his  greatness  and  the  part  he  played,  we  know 
nothing.  He  was  a  silent  man,  doing  his  great  work  in  the 
world  and  saying  nothing  of  himself,  to  a  degree  quite  un- 
known to  any  of  the  heroes  of  Carlyle,  who  preached  the 
doctrine  of  silence  so  strenuously  in  many  volumes.  Mar- 
shall seems  to  have  destroyed  all  his  own  papers ;  certainly 
none  of  consequence  are  known  to  exist  now.  He  wrote  but 
few  letters,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  voluminous  collection 
of  the  time,  where,  if  we  except  those  addressed  to  Judge 
Story,  lately  published,  he  is  less  represented  than  any  of 
the  other  leaders  of  that  period.  Brief  memories  by  some  of 
his  contemporaries,  scattered  letters,  stray  recollections  and 
fugitive  descriptions,  are  all  that  we  have  to  help  us  to  see 
;in (I  know  the  man  John  Marshall.  Yet  his  personality  is 
so  strong  that  from  these  fragments  and  from  the  study  of 
his  public  life  it  stands  forth  to  all  who  look  with  under- 
standing and  sympathy.  A  great  intellect;  a  clear  sight 
which  was  never  dimmed,  but  which  always  recognized 
facts  and  scorned  delusions ;  a  powerful  will ;  a  courage, 
moral,  mental,  and  physical,  which  nothing  could  daunt,  — 
all  these  things  lie  upon  the  surface.  Deeper  down  we  dis- 
cern a  directness  of  mind,  a  purity  and  strength  of  charac- 
ter, a  kind  heart,  an  abundant  humor,  and  a  simplicity  and 
modesty  which  move  our  admiration  as  beyond  the  bounds 
of  eulogy.  He  was  a  very  great  man.  The  proofs  of  his 
greatness  lie  all  about  us,  in  our  history,  our  law,  our  con- 
stitutional development,  our  public  thought.  But  there  is 
one  witness  to  his  greatness  of  soul  which  seems  to  me  to 
outweigh  all  the  others.  He  had  been  a  soldier  and  lawyer 
and  statesman  ;  he  had  been  an  envoy  to  France,  a  member 
of  Congress,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Chief  Justice.  He  did 


246  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

a  great  work,  and  no  one  knew  better  than  he  how  great  i 
had  been.  Then  when  he  came  to  die  he  wrote  his  own 
epitaph,  and  all  he  asked  to  have  recorded  was  his  name, 
the  date  of  his  birth,  the  date  of  his  marriage,  and  the  date 
of  his  death.  What  a  noble  pride  and  what  a  tine  simplicity 
are  there !  In  the  presence  of  such  a  spirit,  at  the  close  of 
such  a  life,  almost  anything  that  can  be  said  would  seem 
tawdry  and  unworthy.  His  devoted  friend,  Judge  Story, 
wished  to  have  inscribed  upon  Marshall's  tomb  the  words, 
"Expounder  of  the  Constitution."  Even  this  is  something 
too  much  and  also  far  too  little.  He  is  one  of  that  small 
group  of  men  who  have  founded  states.  He  is  a  nation- 
maker,  a  state-builder.  His  monument  is  in  the  history  of 
the  United  States,  and  his  name  is  written  upon  the  Con- 
stitution of  his  country. 


EVENTS  ARE   TEMPORAL,  PRINCIPLES  ETERNAL. 

NICHOLAS  MURRAY  BUTLER. 

The  Introduction  to  a  speech  at  the  Fortieth  Annual  Convocation  oj 
the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  June  SO, 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  hear  one  of  General  Garfield's 
most  eloquent  speeches.  From  the  gallery  of  a  great  hall  I 
looked  down  upon  a  scene  where  ambition,  envy,  and  patriot- 
ism were  all  struggling  for  expression  in  the  national  con- 
vention of  a  powerful  political  party.  A  candidate  for 
President  of  the  United  States  was  to  be  chosen.  The  walls 
had  trembled  at  the  mighty  cheers  that  thousands  of  strong, 
eager  men  had  given  for  the  leaders  of  their  choice.  Finally, 
um  id  perfect  silence,  General  Garfield  rose  in  his  place 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  247 

among  the  representatives  of  Ohio  and  made  his  way  to  the 
platform  to  put  before  the  convention  the  name  of  the  man 
whom  he  preferred  above  all  others  for  President  of  the 
United  States.  He  had  been  greatly  moved  by  the  tempest 
of  cheering  and  applause  which  had  greeted  two  of  the 
names  already  in  nomination,  and  he  sought  to  lead  the  con- 
vention away  from  the  passionate  feeling  of  the  moment  to 
a  more  sober  and  substantial  standard  of  judgment.  With 
solemnity  and  deliberation,  General  Garfield  opened  his 
speech  with  these  sentences :  — 

"  I  have  witnessed  the  extraordinary  scenes  of  this  con- 
vention with  deep  solicitude.  Nothing  touches  my  heart 
more  quickly  than  a  tribute  of  honor  to  a  great  and  noble 
character  ;  but  as  I  sat  in  my  seat  and  witnessed  this  demon- 
stration, this  assemblage  seemed  to  me  a  human  ocean  in 
tempest.  I  have  seen  the  sea  lashed  into  fury  and  tossed 
into  spray,  and  its  grandeur  moves  the  soul  of  the  dullest 
man;  but  I  remember  that  it  is  not  the  billows,  but  the 
calin  level  of  the  sea,  from  which  all  heights  and  depths 
are  measured. 

"  When  the  storm  has  passed  and  the  hour  of  calm  settles 
on  the  ocean,  when  the  sunlight  bathes  its  peaceful  surface, 
then  the  astronomer  and  surveyor  take  the  level  from  which 
they  measure  all  terrestrial  heights  and  depths. 

"  Not  here,  in  this  brilliant  circle  where  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men  and  women  are  gathered,  is  the  destiny 
of  the  republic  to  be  decreed  for  the  next  four  years,  —  not 
here,  where  I  see  the  enthusiastic  faces  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-six  delegates,  waiting  to  cast  their  lots  into  the  urn 
and  determine  the  choice  of  the  republic,  — but  by  four  mill- 
ions of  Republican  firesides,  where  the  thoughtful  voters, 


PUBLIC  SPEAK IX <  . 

with  wives  and  children  about  them,  with  the  calm  thoughts 
in>piivd  by  love  of  home  and  country,  with  the  history  ••!' 
the  past,  the  hopes  of  the  future,  and  reverence  for  the  great 
men  who  have  adorned  and  blessed  our  nation  in  days  gone 
by,  burning  in  their  hearts  —  there  God  prepares  the  verdict 
which  will  determine  the  wisdom  of  our  work  to-night." 

Often  in  listening  to  debates  and  discussions  of  matters 
far  removed  from  things  political,  this  counsel  of  Garfield's 
has  recurred  to  me.  It  seems  to  be  so  easy,  in  education  as 
elsewhere,  to  yield  to  the  pressure  of  momentary  feeling  or 
temporary  expediency  and  to  lose  sight  of  the  deep,  under- 
lying principles  which  should,  and  in  the  long  run  must, 
control  our  action  and  our  policies,  that  we  need  constant 
reminders  of  what  those  principles  are. 


THE  PURITANS  AND  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 
PROBLEMS. 

ARTHUR    TWIXIN.,     II  AIU.KY. 

From  an  address  delivered  before  the  Xew  England  Society  • 
York  City,  December  22,  1900. 

By  nine  persons  out  of  ten,  the  Puritans  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  are  remembered  chiefly  for  the  pattern  of 
their  clothes  or  the  phraseology  of  their  creeds ;  and  even 
the  tenth  man,  who  really  goes  below  the  surface,  often  lays 
wrong  emphasis  on  the  different  parts  of  their  activity,  ami 
fails  to  understand  the  true  reason  of  their  power.  He 
thinks  of  the  Puritan  not  so  much  for  what  he  did  as  for 
what  he  refused  to  do  and  forbade  others  to  do;  as  one  who 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  249 

held  himself  aloof  from  the  joys  of  life  and  apart  from  the 
sympathies  of  humanity. 

Not  in  such  restrictions  and  refusals  was  the  strength  of 
the  Puritan  character  founded.  Not  by  any  such  negative 
virtue  did  he  conquer  the  world.  The  true  Puritan  was  in- 
tensely human  —  a  man  who  "  ate  when  he  was  hungry  and 
drank  when  lie  was  thirsty  ;  loved  his  friends  and  hated  his 
enemies."  If  he  submitted  to  self-imposed  hardships,  and 
practised  abstention  where  others  allowed  themselves  lati- 
tude, it  was  not  because  he  had  less  range  of  interest  than 
his  fellows,  but  because  he  had  more  range.  He  did  these 
things  as  a  means  to  an  end.  His  thoughts  went  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  single  day  or  the  single  island.  He  was  a 
man  who  considered  power  as  more  than  possession,  princi- 
ples as  better  than  acquirements,  public  duty  as  paramount 
to  personal  allegiance.  He  regarded  himself  as  part  of  a 
universe  under  God's  government.  For  the  joy  of  taking  his 
place  in  that  government,  he  steeled  himself  to  a  temper 
which  spared  not  his  own  body  nor  that  of  others.  His  life, 
with  all  its  powers,  was  held  in  trust.  To  the  fulfilment  of 
this  trust  he  subordinated  all  considerations  of  personal 
pleasure. 

Men  are  always  divided  more  or  less  clearly  into  two 
types,  —  those  who  recognize  this  character  of  life  as  a  trust, 
and  those  who  fail  to  recognize  it.  It  was  because  England 
had  men  of  the  former  type  that  her  subsequent  progress  as 
a  free  nation  has  been  realized.  It  was  the  Puritan  who,  by 
subjecting  his  power  and  his  love  of  life  to  self-imposed 
restraints,  made  freedom  possible  in  two  hemispheres. 

Once  more  we  are  to  come  to  a  similar  parting  of  the 
ways.  The  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  witnessed 


260  PUBLIC  SPEAKING 

an  expansion  of  the  geographical  boundaries  of  men's  inter- 
ests comparable  only  to  that  which  came  three  hundred 
years  earlier,  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  for  the 
next  generation  to  decide  how  these  new  fields  shall  be 
occupied.  Shall  it  be  to  gratify  ambition,  commercial  and 
political  ?  or  shall  it  be  to  exercise  a  trust  which  has  been 
tfivi'ii  us  for  the  advancement  of  the  human  race?  Shall 
we  enter  upon  our  new  possessions  in  the  spirit  of  the  ad- 
venturer, or  in  the  spirit  of  the  Puritan?  The  conflict 
between  these  two  views  will  be  the  really  important  issue 
in  the  complex  maze  of  international  relations  during  the 
half  century  which  is  to  come.  The  outcome  of  this  con- 
flict is  likely  to  determine  the  course  of  the  world's  history 
for  ages  thereafter. 

Now,  it  is  not  in  international  politics  and  in  problems  of 
colonization  alone  that  this  issue  is  arising  between  those 
who  regard  the  world  as  a  field  for  pleasure  and  those  who 
regard  it  as  a  place  for  the  exercise  of  a  trust.  The  develop- 
ment of  modern  industry  has  placed  the  alternative  even 
more  sharply  before  us  in  the  ordering  of  our  life  at  home. 
The  day  is  past  when  the  automatic  action  of  self-interest 
could  be  trusted  to  regulate  prices,  or  when  a  few  simple 
principles  of  commercial  law,  if  properly  applied,  secured 
the  exercise  of  justice  in  matters  of  trade.  The  growth  of 
large  industries  and  of •  large  fortunes  enables  those  who 
use  them  rightly  to  do  the  public  much  better  service  than 
was  possible  in  ages  previous.  It  also  permits  those  who 
use  them  wrongly  to  render  the  public  correspondingly 
greater  injury.  No  system  of  legislation  is  likely  to  meet 
this  difficulty.  The  outcome  depends  on  the  character 
of  the  people.  Is  our  business  to  be  dominated  by  the  spirit 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  251 

of  the  adventurer,  or  by  the  spirit  of  the  Puritan  ?  Shall 
we  regard  wealth  as  a  means  of  enjoyment  and  commer- 
cial power,  as  a  plaything  to  be  used  in  the  game  of  per- 
sonal ambition  ?  or  shall  we  treat  the  fortunes  which  come 
into  our  hands  as  a  trust  to  be  exercised  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people,  rigidly  abstaining  from  its  abuse  ourselves,  and 
unsparingly  refusing  to  associate  with  others  who  abuse  it  ? 
No  American  has  a  right  to  claim  a  share  in  the  glory  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  if  he  has  any  doubt  concerning  his 
answer.  Let  us  throw  ourselves,  heart  and  soul,  on  that 
side  of  the  industrial  question  which  proves  us  worthy  of 
Puritan  ancestry,  —  the  side  which  regards  wealth  as  a 
trust,  to  be  used  in  behalf  of  the  whole  people  and  in  the 
furtherance  of  the  purposes  of  God's  government. 


THE  SYMMETRY  OF  LIFE. 

PHILLIPS    BROOKS. 

Extract  from  an  Address  to  Young  Afen. 

There  are  three  directions  or  dimensions  of  human  life  to 
which  we  may  fitly  give  these  three  names,  Length  and 
Breadth  and  Height.  The  Length  of  a  life,  in  this  meaning 
of  it,  is,  of  course,  not  its  duration.  It  is  the  rather  the 
reaching  on  and  out  of  a  man,  in  the  line  of  activity  and 
thought  and  self-development,  which  is  indicated  and  proph- 
esied by  the  character  which  is  natural  within  him,  by  the 
special  ambitions  which  spring  up  out  of  his  special  powers. 
It  is  the  push  of  a  life  forward  to  its  own  personal  ends  and 
ambitions.  The  Breadth  of  a  life,  on  the  other  hand,  is  its 
outreach  laterally,  if  we  may  say  so.  It  is  the  constantly 


252  PUBLIC  SPEAKING. 

diffusive  tendency  which  is  always  drawing  a  man  outward 
into  sympathy  with  other  men.  And  the  Height  of  a  life 
is  its  upward  reach  towards  God ;  its  sense  of  childhood ; 
its  consciousness  of  a  Divine  Life  over  it  with  which  it 
tries  to  live  in  love,  communion  and  obedience.  These  are 
the  three  dimensions  of  a  life,  —  its  length  and  breadth  and 
height,  —  without  the  due  development  of  all  of  which  no 
life  becomes  complete.  The  life  which  has  only  length, 
only  intensity  of  ambition,  is  narrow.  The  life  that  has 
length  and  breadth,  intense  ambition  and  broad  humanity, 
is  thin ;  it  is  like  a  great,  flat  plain,  of  which  one  wearies, 
and  which  sooner  or  later  wearies  of  itself.  The  life  which 
to  its  length  and  breadth  adds  height,  which  to  its  personal 
ambition  and  sympathy  with  men,  adds  the  love  and  obe- 
dience of  God,  completes  itself  into  the  cube  of  the  eternal 
city  and  is  the  life  complete. 

Think  for  a  moment  of  the  life  of  the  great  apostle,  the 
manly,  many-sided  Paul.  "I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  my  high  calling,"  he  writes  to  the  Philippians. 
That  is  the  length  of  life  for  him.  "  I  will  gladly  spend 
and  be  spent  for  you,"  he  writes  to  the  Corinthians. 
There  is  the  breadth  of  life  for  him.  "  God  hath  raised  us 
up  and  made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  he  writes  to  the  Ephesians.  There  is  the  height 
of  life  for  him.  You  can  add  nothing  to  these  three 
dimensions  when  you  try  to  account  to  yourself  for  the 
impression  of  completeness  which  comes  to  you  out  of  his 
simple,  lofty  story. 

We  need  not  stop  with  him.  Look  at  the  Lord  of  Paul. 
See  how  in  Christ  the  same  symmetrical  manhood  shines 
yet  more  complete.  See  what  intense  ambition  to  complete 


SELECTIONS  FOR  PRACTICE.  253 

His  work,  what  tender  sympathy  with  every  struggling 
brother  by  His  side,  and  at  the  same  time  what  a  perpetual 
dependence  on  His  Father,  is  in  Him.  "For  this  cause 
came  I  into  the  world."  "  For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself." 
"  Now,  O  Father,  glorify  Thou  me.7'  Leave  either  of  those 
out  and  you  have  not  the  perfect  Christ,  not  the  entire  sym- 
metry of  manhood. 

If  we  try  to  gather  into  shape  some  picture  of  what  the 
perfect  man  of  heaven  is  to  be,  still  we  must  keep  the  sym- 
metry of  these  his  three  dimensions.  It  must  be  that  for- 
ever before  each  glorified  spirit  in  the  other  life  there  shall 
be  set  one  goal  of  peculiar  ambition,  his  goal,  after  which  he 
is  peculiarly  to  strive,  the  struggle  after  which  is  to  make  his 
eternal  life  to  be  forever  different  from  every  other  among 
all  the  hosts  of  heaven.  And  yet  it  must  be  that  as  each 
soul  strives  towards  his  own  attainment  he  shall  be  knit  for- 
ever into  closer  and  closer  union  with  all  the  other  countless 
souls  which  are  striving  after  theirs.  And  the  inspiring 
po\\ •«•!•  of  it  all,  the  source  of  all  the  energy  and  all  the  love, 
must  then  be  clear  beyond  all  doubt ;  the  ceaseless  flood  of 
light  forever  pouring  forth  from  the  self-living  God  to  fill 
and  feed  the  open  lives  of  His  redeemed  who  lived  by  him. 
There  is  the  symmetry  of  manhood  perfect.  There,  in  re- 
deemed and  glorified  human  nature,  is  the  true  heavenly 
Jerusalem. 

I  hope  that  we  are  all  striving  and  praying  now  that  we 
may  come  to  some  such  symmetrical  completeness.  This  is 
the  glory  of  a  young  man's  life.  Do  not  dare  to  live  with- 
out some  clear  intention  toward  which  your  living  shall  be 
bent.  Mean  to  do  something  with  all  your  might.  Do  not 
add  act  to  act  and  day  to  day  in  perfect  thoughtlessness, 


25 1 


PUBLIC  SPEAKIXfi. 


never  asking  yourself  whither  the  growing  line  is  leading. 
Hut  at  the  same  time  do  not  dare  to  be  so  absorbed  in  your 
own  life,  so  wrapped  up  in  listening  to  the  sound  of  your  own 
hurrying  heels,  that  all  this  vast  pathetic  music,  made  up  of 
the  mingled  joy  and  sorrow  of  your  fellow-men,  shall  not 
find  out  your  heart  and  claim  it  and  make  you  rejoice  to  give 
yourself  for  them.  And  yet,  all  the  while,  keep  the  upward 
windows  open.  Do  not  dare  to  think  that  a  child  of  God 
can  worthily  work  out  his  career  or  worthily  serve  God's 
other  children  unless  he  does  both  in  the  love  and  fear  of 
God  their  Father.  Be  sure  that  ambition  and  charity  will 
both  grow  mean  unless  they  are  both  inspired  and  exalted 
by  religion.  Energy,  love,  and  faith,  those  make  the  perfect 
man.  And  Christ,  who  is  the  perfectness  of  all  of  them, 
gives  them  all  three  to  any  young  man  who,  at  the  very  out- 
set of  his  life,  gives  up  himself  to  Him. 


INDEX. 


[Numerals  refer  to  pages.     Names  of  authors  are  in  small  capitals. 
Titles  of  selections  are  in  italic.] 


ABBOTT,  LYMAN,  8,  60,  2:35,  240. 

Address,  atmosphere  of,  100;  mas- 
tery of,  14;  paragraphs  of,  10; 
perspective  of,  9;  preparation  of, 
9-16;  selection  of,  9;  theme  of, 
10. 

Alamo  and  the  New  South,  The, 
138. 

America,  55. 

America  and  International  Peace, 
159. 

America  a  World  Republic,  156. 

American  University  and  American 
Citizenship,  The,  140. 

Articulation,  exercises  in,  32-35. 

Bearing-  toward  audience,  115. 

BEECH KK,  72. 

BEVERIDQE,  ALBERT  J.,  148,  156. 

BLAINE,  JAMES  G.,  190. 

/>'"<» A-*,  .1  Tulk  on,  161. 

Breathing:,  20;    exercises  in  deep 

breathing,  23. 
BROOKS,  PHILLIPS,  251. 
BRYANT,  82. 

BURKE,  EDMUND,  63,  207. 
BUTLER,  NICHOLAS  MURRAY,  233, 

246. 

CARLYLE,  THOMAS,  36,  75,  168. 
Carriage,  114-118. 
CASTELAR,  EMILIO,  215. 
Character  'Essential  for   a    Great 

Lawyer,  170. 
Charter,  The  Great,  176. 
CHATHAM,  63. 
Christian  Citizenship,  143. 


CICERO,  4,  38,  99. 

Circumflexes,  the,  68-70;  defini- 
tion, 68;  usage,  69. 

Climax,  94. 

Columbus,  211. 

Compass  of  voice,  37. 

Contervnti&m,  11. 

Conversation,  the  basis  of  the 
best  public  speaking,  7,  131. 

CORSON,  HIRAM,  5,  54,  127,  128. 

CURTIS,  GEORGE  WILLIAM,  11,  52, 
63,  69,  82,  84,  100,  199. 

DANIEL,  JOHN  W.,  183. 

Delivery,  preparation  of  an  ad- 
dress for,  9-16;  style  of,  131- 
133. 

Democracy  and  Education,  233. 

DEMOSTHENES,  67. 

DEPEW,  CHAUNCEY  M.,  60,  211. 

DOWDEN,  EDWARD,  136. 

DRUMMOND,  HENRY,  161. 

Earnestness,  102-109  ;  essentials 
of,  102;  not  to  depend  upon  the 
occasion,  104;  relation  of,  to  tech- 
nique, 107 ;  the  expression  of  char- 
acter, 108;  the  gauge  of  success, 
102. 

Earnestness,  physical,  see  Phys- 
ical Earnestness  and  Gesture. 

EMERSON,  RALPH  WALDO,  50,  09, 
108, 109. 

Emphasis,  45-58;  faults  of,  54; 
importance  of,  48 ;  pause-empha- 
sis, 45;  rules  of,  49-54;  stress- 
emphasis,  46;  time-emphasis,  46. 


255 


256 


INDEX. 


Emphasizing,  ways  of,  45. 

England  "/"/  the  American  Colo- 
nies, 207. 

Enunciation,  2J»-HU;  distinct,  29,; 
faults  in,  30;  need  of  exaggerated, 
30. 

are    Temporal,    Principles 
t-.'-rnal,  246. 

EVERETT,  EDWARD,  36,  213. 

Fallacies  relative  to  teaching  pub- 
lic speaking,  2-5. 

Force,  88;  general  suggestions  re- 
garding, 88-93. 

FRYK,  50. 

Garcia,  A  Message  to,  209. 

Garfield,  The  Death  of,  190. 

Gesture,  118;  calisthenics  prepara- 
tory to,  120;  cautions  on,  125-130; 
classification  of,  122;  emphatic, 
IL'-J.  129;  general  principles  of.  r_'4  : 
locative,  123:  mechanics  of,  121; 
suggestive,  122. 

Gettysburg  Address,  180. 

GLADSTONE,  1. 

GOUQH,  JOHN  B.,  66. 

Government  by  Public  Opinion,  238. 

GRADY,  HENRY  W.,  12,  92,  93, 101, 
138,  195,  205. 

GRAVES,  JOHN  TEMPLE,  63,  61. 

GRIMKE,  68. 

HADLEY,  ARTHUR    TWINING,  238, 

248. 

Happiness  and  Liberty,  201. 
HAY,  JOHN,  1<L>. 
HIGGINSON,  THOMAS  WENT  WORTH, 

1,  39,  132. 

HOAR,  GEORGE  F.,  17, 152. 
HOGE,  MOSES  D.,  186. 
Home  and  the  Republic,  The,  12. 
HUBBARD,  ELBERT,  163,  209. 

1 1, •]•}><  ndence  Day,  The  True  Spirit 

for,  223. 
Inflection,  59-78;    definition    and 

classification, 59 ;  falling, (X), CA. 67. 

68;  faults  of,  75-78;  general  law 

of,  59;  general  law  of,  applications 


of  the,  60-68;  rising,  62-63,  64,  65 

67,68. 

INGERSOLL,  ROBERT  G.,  201. 
Insight  and  Foresight,  L'l'.t. 

Jackson,  Stonewall,  186. 
JOHNSON,  HERRICK,  12!t. 
JONES,  SIR  WILLIAM,  64. 
Jury  Address,  172. 

Key,  37-H ;  definition  of,  37 :  exor- 
cises in,  42;  high,  40;  middl.  .  .,7. 
KIPLING,  RUDYARD,  56. 

Law,  Individual  Liberty,  and  the 

M"f>  Spirit,  The,  217. 
Law  of  Service,  The,  240. 
Lee,  Robert  E.,  183. 
LEWIS,  YANCEY,  223. 

:.x,  ABRAHAM,  36,  180. 
Lincoln,  Abraham.  1M. 
Lincoln,  Tribute  to,  L'ir>. 
LODGE,  HENRY  CABOT,  230,  243. 
LONGFELLOW,  50,  84. 

MACAULAY,  66,  70. 

McKin />'!>,  WiMnin,  192. 

Marshall,  John,  I 

Masterpiece  of  God,  TV/ 

Message  to  Garcia,  A,  -"'.'. 

Minute  Man  of  the  Revolution,  The. 

190. 
Modulation,  41. 

Negro  Question,  The,  228. 

"Outlook,"    The,    selection     from, 

•Jl'.i. 

PAGE,  THOMAS  NELSON,  226,  228. 
PARKHURST,  CHARLBS  II.,  143. 
PENN,  WILLIAM,  60. 
PHELPS,  EDWARD  J.,  177. 
Philippine  Question,  The,  148. 
Philippines,  Our  Policy  toward  thr, 

152. 
PHILLIPS,  WENDELL,  53,  91,  {»;.  !'•'>, 

170,  Li»:;. 

Phrasing:,  85 ;  faults  of,  86. 
!  Physical    Earnestness,    1 1 1  - 1 :  y » ; 

defined,  111;    the   expression   of. 

113-118.    See  Gesture. 


INDEX. 


257 


Pilgrims,  The,  213. 
PORTER,  HORACE,  188. 
Practice,  necessity  of,  135-137. 
Preparation  of  an  address,  9. 
Pronunciation,  26-28;    faults  of, 

'_'»>:    importance    of    correct,    26; 

tests  of  good,  27. 
Public  Opinion  and  Agitation,  166. 
Public  Speaking,  basis  of ,  9;  de- 

tined,  7 ;  method  of,  8;  tests  of,  7. 
Puritans  and    Twentieth    Century 

Problems,  The,  248. 

Rate,  79;  admonitions  as  to,  79-84; 

exercises  for  acquiring  slow,  81. 
Reading:  aloud,  135. 
Recessional,  The,  56. 
REID,  WHITKLAW,  145. 
Revolutions,  203. 
KIH.SKVELT,  THEODORE,  159. 
r.  M.,  176. 

SALISBURY,  1. 
SHAKESPEARE,  35,  70,  76. 
SHKPPARD,  NATHAN,  111. 
Slides,   the,  71-74;  definition,  71; 

usage,  72. 

Soldier's  Last  Salute,  The,  188. 
Sources  of  Our  National  Strength, 

145. 
South,  The  Neio,  195. 


South,  The  New,  and  the  Race  Prob- 
lem, 205. 

South,  The  Old,  Social  Life  in,  226. 
SOUTHS Y,  23. 
Speech,  how  effected,  19. 
Stage-fright,  134. 
Style  of  delivery,  131. 
Symmetry  of  Life,  The,  251. 

TALMAGE,  60. 

Time,  79-87;  definition,  79. 

Tone,  pure,  22. 

Tone-color,  98-101. 

Training  for  the  Legal  Profession, 

177. 

Transition,  86. 
Triumph  of  Truth,  The,  168. 

Vocal  organs,  exercises  for,  24. 
Voice,  the,  17-25 ;  adaptation  of,  to 

room,  39;  culture,  17. 
Volume,  95. 

WATTERSON,  HENRY,  181. 
Wealth  and  Democracy,  235. 
WEBSTER,  DANIEL,  3,  54,  61, 172. 
Webster  as  an  Orator,  230. 
WHITTIER,  72. 
WILSON,  WOODROW,  140. 
WOODWARD,  JOHN,  217. 
Word-coloring,  99. 


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